Crossing Boundaries
by dreambigwriteoutloud
Summary: Aria (Patricia's daughter) comes from a 'special' family. She loves her family just how it is, and is very proud of them. But sometimes, other people aren't going to be as accepting or understanding. What's the big secret about Aria? Read and see. Peddie. Joytricia. Rated T for further implications, just to be safe. Set in the future after season 2.
1. Chapter 1

_Ring, _went the school bell, indicating the start of another day for young Aria. It was the last school day before Mother's day, and as a special treat, Aria's teacher was going to allow the class to spend the day making Mother's day presents. Aria was more than excited about this and literally could not wait for Mother's day to come now. The young girl was eager to get started on her presents, but struggled to think of what to make. After giving it some thought she decided it would be best to make a card first, and then make the presents.

All of the children were so anxious to get started that when their teacher Mrs. Melic came into the room with her big box of craft supplies, cheers came from every child's mouth. First year of primary school was a breeze. There was nothing too it, really except that you show up, learn a little, and try your best. No real expectations or responsibilities to worry about. The teacher told her students to take their seats and she would pass out some supplies. Every child did what they were told, and were given three sheets of construction paper, one sheet of plain printer paper, a glue stick, safety scissors, and a box of crayons. There were other materials in her big box that they were welcome to help their selves to.

Aria went straight to work on her card, taking the white paper from her pile and coloring it. On the board, Mrs. Melic had written how to spell "Mother's Day" in case anyone needed to see it. Aria didn't need the reference; she had spelt it plenty of times before. She picked up her Mum's favorite colored crayon which was red, and wrote at the top _Happy Mothers' Day. _She continued to color the paper, drawing a picture of her family. She drew stick figures, not being capable of drawing actual people, being only six years of age. On the card, she drew her whole family, and labeled their names in their favorite colors.

Some of the other children walked by and gave her strange looks, trying to correct her card. They would say she was wrong, but Aria ignored them. She knew that she was right, and it was them who were wrong. In Aria's eyes, her family was beautiful just the way it was. When the girl finished with her card, she held it close to her face and kissed it, hoping that her family would like the card. Mrs. Melic was travelling around the room while looking at some of the presents and cards that the kids were making. When she came to Aria's desk she looked at the girl and gave her a smile. "Can I see what you made, dear?" she asked sweetly.

Aria nodded, handing her the card and beaming up at her teacher, proud of her work. Mrs. Melic took a look at the card, and her smile turned into a frown. "Oh, Aria dear, I'm afraid you've misspelled Mother's Day. You put the apostrophe in the wrong place, dear." Now it was Aria's turn to frown. All morning, people have been telling her that exact same thing. _The apostrophe goes after the r, not the s. You spelled it wrong, Aria._ Aria looked up at her teacher with an expression of disappointment.

"I didn't spell it wrong," she stated. "I have two Mommies; I know where the apostrophe goes." This came as a shock to not only her teacher, but to the other students. Her classmates began to whisper and say things to each other. The only problem was that Aria could hear everything they were saying. _Aria had two Mommies? She's crazy, no one can have two Moms. I've seen her dad before… _

"Oh, oh my…" her teacher said. "I'm sorry dear but I think you're mistaking. You have one Mommy, and one Daddy, remember? I met with them last year." Aria crossed her little arms over her chest, and pouted.

"That was last year. I have two Mommies now, and a Daddy." All her teacher did was put the card back down on the girl's desk with a shaky hand, and give Aria a gentle pat on the shoulder. The girl sulked back down into her seat very gloomily and sighed, staring down at her paper where she had drawn a family;_ her _family. Aria could feel herself holding back the tears in her crystal blue eyes, trying anything to stop them from falling. No luck she found as she helplessly watched a single teardrop escape from the corner of her eye, running down her face and cheek, and sniffed as it fell onto the desk with the tiniest splash.

Why did no one believe her? Why had everyone reacted the same way when she told them that she had two Mommies and a Daddy? What was so wrong with her? Aria didn't know the answers to any of these questions. It made her feel different, like she didn't belong. No one seemed to believe her when she told them. They would say she was a liar, or just stop talking to her all together. It made poor Aria feel abandoned, alone, and that no one loved her, when in reality, it was the exact opposite.

The rest of the day was spent on these projects, and a movie at the very end. When the bell rang again to signal the end of the day, Aria packed up her things and began the short walk home from her school. As she walked, her long red hair swayed back and forth and blew in the wind. Her eyes were glued to her feet as well as the sidewalk beneath her and she refused to look up. She had to cheer up before she got home, or they would know something was wrong. Aria dried her eyes and tried to smile when she saw her driveway just a short distance away.

"Welcome home Aria!" her mother said as she always did from sitting on the front porch. The young girl smiled at her Mum who waved at her and she waved back. Before she knew it, the girl had taken flight up the drive way and into her mother's open arms, hugging her tightly. "How was school today?" her mother asked. It was brilliant, how much Aria looked like her Mum at such an early age. Same eye color, same hair, same fair white skin. Her eye shape, however, she got from her father.

"It was good," the girl lied. Her Mum gave her a kiss on the cheek and brought her inside, where her dad swept her up into his arms and kissed her as well, giving her a tight hug at the same time.

"Eddie, don't smother the poor girl," Patricia warned him, taking Aria's backpack and putting it on the kitchen counter. Eddie back off of the girl, smirking at the older redhead.

"I wasn't, Yacker, don't worry." Aria giggled as her father put her down. Patricia went to the fridge to fix a snack for them as Joy entered the room, smiling at Aria and carrying the baby.

"Hey, there's our little girl," Joy said, bending down to give her a kiss. Aria smiled, and even gave her baby brother a kiss too. Joy took Alex over to see his other Mommy, who was happy to see him after his nap. Aria took a good look at her family; the one she had drawn at school today.

Her family was different from others and she knew that, but she didn't care. Aria Sophia Miller/Mercer was part of a very special family which she was proud of in every way. Eddie Miller is her father, and he's a very good father at that. Patricia and Eddie were dating for a while in and out of high school, and one night, they decided to have a kid and they ended up with Aria. After they had Aria, they decided it would be best to get married, so they did. When Aria was three years old her parents started fighting a lot, and they ended up getting a divorce, saying that they shouldn't have married so young in the first place. During the time they were apart, Patricia had moved in with Joy, and they started becoming closer friends than they were in high school, developing a friends with benefits relationship of sorts. Eddie and Patricia gained back their friendship as well, and all three of them were rather close.

One day, Joy told Patricia how she felt about her and Patricia was shocked, but accepted it and even started to like her the same way. Aria would travel between parents, mostly staying with her Mom, and by the time she was five Patricia and Joy had decided to become a permanent family and asked Eddie to move in with them so that Aria wouldn't have to be without her father. He agreed, and moved in with them within a month's time. Aria had never been happier in her life to have both of her parents as friends again and living under one roof. Now, her family was bigger than it ever was, and more importantly, it was complete. Both of Patricia's kids are Eddie's, but they're also Joy's.

After Eddie moved in, Patricia and Joy were thinking about having another child. Joy suggested adoption, but Patricia really felt as though she wanted the child to be hers. The other deal breaker was that if it was going to be their child, she wasn't going to not know who the father was. At the time, Joy said no about twenty times. She knew exactly where Patricia was going with this and didn't like it one bit. Eventually after a _lot _of begging and pleading, Joy agreed to let Eddie be the father, and that's how they ended up with Alex, who even though he wasn't blood relate to Joy, looked an awful lot like her. Aria used to hear her mother Patricia say that this was some sort of compromise, that because she let Eddie be the father, the baby looks like her. Almost as if he was legitimately hers.

Patricia and Joy weren't exactly married, but they were a couple. Sometimes when Aria had friends over, she would tell them that Joy was her aunt instead to avoid questions. It all seemed legit due to the fact that sometimes Patricia and Eddie would kiss. It was almost as if all three of them were dating each other, and in a way, they were. It was strange, yes, but Aria understood it and that's all that mattered. She only hoped that one day, when her friends and others found out the truth, that they would be as accepting and understanding as she was.

Patricia cradled Alex in her arms while bringing a plate of crackers and cheese over to the table. Joy crouched down next to Aria and smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder. "So my sweet, what did you do in school today?" Aria smiled at her Mom and thought of what to say and what not to say.

"We spent the whole day making Mother's day presents. I made one for you, and for Mum." For Aria, to make things simpler, she would often call Patricia Mum, and Joy Mom. Same goes with Mummy and Mommy. Eddie was a lot simpler, and she just called him Daddy. Joy smiled at Aria and gave her a hug.

"That's great, sweetie, I can't wait to see it." Arai giggled slightly. "What's so funny?" Joy asked, giving her a falsely stern look.

"You said you can't wait, but you have to wait, until Mother's day." Joy laughed along with Aria and kissed her on the cheek, ruffling her hair. "I'm gonna go play outside," she announced after taking a cracker. She turned to Eddie with hopeful eyes, who was helping himself to a cracker as well. "Will you come outside and play too, Daddy?" she asked him sweetly. Eddie reached down and picked up his daughter, looking into her eyes.

"Of course I will," he said while heading back to the door. Patricia watched them leave with a smile on her face. Just before they exited, she called after them.

"You know Eddie, I'm glad you moved in with us. You're really great with the kids." Eddie smirked at the girl, and shut the door. Joy took Alex from Patricia and carried him into the living room to be rocked as the redhead watched her ex and their daughter run outside holding hands, just having fun like normal parents would do with their kids. This thought made Patricia smile and she continued to watch them for a few more minutes through the windows. Joy walked over to her partner with the baby.

"He's so good with her," she said. Patricia nodded.

"I know, and he's just what she needs, to feel like she has a normal life." Joy put one arm around Patricia's waist and kissed her.

"We can be normal too you know," she said with a smile. Patricia kissed the brunette back and said 'I know.'


	2. Chapter 2

"Daddy, why did you and Mummy break up?" It was late at night nearing 10pm and Eddie was in charge of putting Aria to bed tonight. Eddie sighed, turning to face his adorable daughter. He knew that he couldn't just avoid her question forever. The dirty blonde sat on the side of Aria's bed and pulled the covers up and over her, tucking her in.

"That's a good question Ari, but I just don't know the answer. We were stupid and we fought over you, and I'm sorry for that." Eddie combed a piece of Aria's stray hair out of her face and tucked it behind her newly pierced ears, which Joy had taken her to do. Eddie might not be able to take her shopping at the mall or do girly things with her when she grows up like painting nails and giving advice –boy advice- but he was going to be there for her, no matter what. Aria smiled up at her Dad.

"That's okay, because now I have two Mommies and a Daddy. So in a way, it's better than before because I only got to see you sometimes. But now, I get to see you lots of times, and that makes me happy." Eddie smiled back at Aria. Aria could always make him smile, no matter what. Maybe it was because she reminded him so much of Patricia, but he had a soft side as well as his regular side, and no one saw it as much as Aria did. Not even Patricia when they were together. Another thing about Aria was that she had two last names. When Patricia and Eddie divorced, Patricia didn't bother to drop his last name and just kept it as her own.

This sometimes bugged Joy, but she never told Patricia. When Patricia and Joy became a couple, they were originally going to get married, but decided against it just for the time being and to wait a little longer. The thing was that Aria was considered under Joy's custody as well. When Aria was born, she took Eddie's last name. After they split up, Patricia decided to give her Joy's last name as well, hence her new full name being Aria Sophia Miller/Mercer.

"Come here," Eddie said, moving closer to her and giving her a big hug. "I love you, you know that right?" he told her, kissing her on the cheek. She nodded and Eddie could feel her long red hair brushing against him.

"I love you too Daddy," she whispered. "I really am glad you came back." Eddie continued to hug her, not wanting to let go just yet.

"I am too, trust me. I came back without giving it a second thought." Aria smiled and pulled away to lock eyes with Eddie.

"Mum's glad too, you know. She hasn't been this happy in ages." Eddie smirked at this comment. Something about it made him laugh, knowing that he still made Patricia happy.

"Goodnight lovebug," he whispered, giving her one last kiss. Aria accepted it, and fell back onto her bed to snuggle under the covers with her favorite stuffed animal that her dad got her for her third birthday. Yes, she still had it because as a young toddler, it was really all she had to protect her from the fighting, and the screaming, and the hurt. It provided her with comfort during the time of her parents' break up that no one else would give her. It was her everything, from that moment on.

Eddie turned to leave and shut off the light and as he did, he looked back at Aria. She looked so cute snuggled under her covers with her long red hair covering half of her face. Her crystal blue eyes fluttered closed and her small little hand peeking out from under the blanket, clutching onto her stuffed animal. Eddie smiled at the sight of her, and thought of ust how adorable she was, especially with her British/American accent that was here and there. Joy would often correct her on pronunciation and sometimes even her teacher would call on her for it, so Aria would have to use her English accent around them. But here at home, when she was with her Dad, she could use her American accent all she wanted and there would be no one to tell her no, or that's wrong.

The blonde took one last look at his daughter before turning off the light, leaving the room and shutting the door. He strutted into the kitchen to get a drink of water before heading off to bed himself, and was surprised to see that both Joy and the baby were still up. Joy sat in the rocking chair that they had in the living room with Alex in her arms, rocking him and trying to get him to fall asleep. "I see you're still up," he said to her quietly." Joy looked up at the boy and gave him an attempt at a smile that turned into a slight laugh.

"I see so are you. You're really good with her, you know. I see the way she acts around you Eddie; she loves you a great deal." Eddie closed the fridge and walked over to Joy, opening his water and taking a sip.

"I know, and I love her to. I mean, she's my daughter, and my first kid. How could I not?" Joy smiled this time before looking back down at the baby. She let out a small sigh.

"No matter what, I can't get him to sleep. I've tried for two hours," she explained. Eddie tilted his head to the side in thought. He put down his water bottle on the table beside them and turned back to Joy.

"Can I try something?" he asked. The brunette looked up at him to see if he was serious, which he was. She handed Alex over to Eddie, and Eddie rocked him back and forth in little swaying movements very slowly. They saw Alex yawn as his little baby hand rose in the air like he was stretching. After a few moments, Alex was fast asleep. Joy's eyes went wide, not believing what just happened. "There," Eddie said, handing Alex back over to his Mom. "Try not to wake him." Eddie smirked at Joy, who started laughing.

"So you're great with girls, _and_ boys now?" she asked. Eddie shrugged while picking up his water.

"Maybe it's a gift," he said teasingly. Joy went on her tiptoes and gave Eddie a kiss on the cheek and whispered to him 'thank you' before heading off to put Alex to bed. Eddie was shocked for only a brief second, whispered goodnight, and then headed off into his room to sleep. Patricia and Joy shared a room, Eddie had his own room, and so did Aria. Alex slept in the nursery upstairs where the girls' bedroom was. Aria slept on the main floor, and so did Eddie.

Eddie changed into pajama like clothes and plopped into bed. Laying on his back the American stared at the ceiling thinking about what Aria had said about Patricia being happier than she was when they had broken up. Something about that made him smile, and kept him smiling every time he thought of it. His mind soon calmed down enough to let him fall asleep. Not too far into the night, a strange noise caused Eddie to wake. He sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes, preparing to investigate if needed. He was both relieved and surprised to find that it was only Aria coming into his bedroom.

She shut the door behind her after entering and climbed up onto her father's bed, dragging her blanket, pillow and stuffed animal along with her. "What's wrong, Aria?" Eddie asked, pulling her closer to him. Aria hid her face behind her puppy and shyly answered him.

"I had a nightmare." Eddie moved over and let the girl crawl under the covers with him, covering herself in both her light blanket and her Father's warm comforter. Eddie rolled over onto his side and looked the girl in the eyes.

"Feel better?" he asked while giving her a reassuring smile. She returned the smile, and nodded. "Good. Now, try and get some sleep, okay?" Eddie ruffled her hair slightly and repositioned himself so that he could fall asleep. At some point, Aria had moved closer to Eddie, and slept while clinging onto his arm. Eddie never noticed until they woke up, but of course he didn't mind.

*It was now the day before Mother's day, and Aria was already downstairs eating breakfast with her Mum and Dad when Joy came downstairs with Alex. She sat the baby in his highchair and fixed him some breakfast of his own. Alex Jonathan Miller/Mercer was eleven months old. He had Eddie's eye color, but he looked like Joy. Even though he was young, he had a god head of auburn hair that had a sort of curl to it. He had a nice little tannish tone to his skin as well. Joy yawned while pouring herself some coffee and fixing herself some breakfast now too. "So Aria," she started, taking a seat at the table. "Are you excited for today?" Aria nodded eagerly, very much excited.

Ever since Patricia and Eddie broke up and Patricia and Joy got together, they made this tradition. Now, every year, the day before mother's day Aria is allowed to spend the entire day with just her father. She loved this, because Eddie just recently moved in with them, and before, she hardly ever got to see him. Still, sometimes she rarely gets to see him because he goes to work, and she has school. Eddie looked forward to it too. Patricia and Joy got to see her every day and do things with her all of the time. It's nice when he gets to spend time with his daughter alone.

"I'm really excited, because Daddy and I are going to do lots of fun stuff today, right Daddy?" Aria's crystal eyes met Eddie's and he smiled down at her, getting up from the table and standing behind her. Aria tipped her head back to look at him, her hair falling over the back of the chair.

"Right and the fun starts right after you're done." Eddie leaned down so his eyes were right above hers, which made her laugh. He then proceeded to grab his jacket from the hall closet before pulling it on and zipping it up. Patricia stood from the table and walked over to Eddie, requesting a word in private.

"Aria told me about her nightmare last night," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. Eddie studied Patricia's emotions and body language.

"Okay, arm crossing is not a good sign." Patricia sighed.

"You didn't let me finish. Her nightmare was losing you, Eddie. In her dream, you were gone. She wouldn't tell me why or where you went, but you just disappeared and she never saw you again." Eddie's face froze in shock. He certainly wasn't expecting that.

"Patricia you know I would never leave her. I love Aria just as much as you and Joy do." This was true, in fact. Eddie loved Aria very much. Maybe even more than Patricia and Joy did. Patricia looked at the floor.

"I know you wouldn't. And Eddie," she continued. "This isn't the first time this dream has occurred." That was all she had said. The redhead turned and walked away before he could say anything, or ask any questions. Aria came running into the hall and Eddie scooped her up.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked hoping that the answer was yes.

"Of course I am, Ari." Ari was a nickname that Eddie gave to her when she was just a baby. Only he calls her Ari though. They all have their little pet names for her, in fact. Eddie calls her Ari, and when it's only them around, lovebug. Joy calls her sweet/sweetie and sometimes boo, and Patricia calls her velvet because of her hair. Then there are the usual nicknames/pet names that they all call her.

Eddie brought Aria back out to the kitchen to say goodbye before taking her out to the car strapping her in and heading off to the park. The whole ride there he kept wondering what Patricia meant by _this isn't the first time this dream has occurred. _Would he ever find out? Maybe he would ask her when they got home, or maybe he would just lay low until Patricia decided to tell him. Should he ask Aria about it? His thoughts were interrupted by the young girl's voice.

"Daddy, what are we gonna do today?" she asked with a very excited look on her face. Eddie looked back when he had the chance.

"Whatever you want to do, lovebug." Aria smiled and thought for a minute.

"We should go to the zoo after the park! I love the zoo." Eddie looked at the girl's facial expression in his mirror and he could tell she really wanted to go.

"We haven't been to the zoo since your Mum and I broke up," Eddie remembered. Aria looked down at the floor of the car.

"But that's why I love it so much, because you and Mum were so happy, and we were a family." Eddie's eyebrows dropped slightly at this, and he felt a knot in his stomach.

"But we're a family now," Eddie told her. Aria sighed, shuffling her feet.

"Yeah, but now it's different. You and Mummy aren't the same, and I miss it." Eddie's heart sunk a little and he could tell that Aria's did as well. He hated that she felt this way, and he hated putting her through it all. "I love our family now, but I miss our old family sometimes."

"I know, Ari, I do too."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay so thank you guys so much for reviewing and reading! One quick note though. I know some of you want Peddie to get back together instead, but that kinda defeats the polyamory part of this fic. There shall be lots of Peddie moments though, don't worry :)**

* * *

Eddie took Aria to the park where they spent a good two hours playing and messing around. He taught Ari how to fly a kite which she enjoyed very much. There were a lot of things to do at the park that day because the schools had set up activity tents for the younger primary kids. Aria was fascinated by the arts and crafts tent, which is where she dragged Eddie to immediately. The young girl busied herself with making a necklace that spelled out her name on it. When she was finished she wore a look of excitement on her face, and she was proud of herself for making it with no help.

The red-haired little girl ran up to her Father to show him. "Daddy look what I made and I did it all by myself!" Eddie smiled when she showed him, taking it from her offering hands and looking at it.

"It's beautiful Ari, just like you. Here, spin around." Eddie helped Aria put her necklace on and clasped it for her, picking her up. The boy almost didn't even notice the girl with the long and mysterious black curls walk by, checking him out as she went. He caught her eye for a brief second before she turned and left. Aria took notice of the girl too. She looked young, around her parents' age which was 27/28 give or take a few years, but most likely take. Eddie turned his attention back to Aria and they went to some of the other tents.

No matter where they went, that girl just so happened to be there. She was watching them, Eddie could tell. He kind of wanted to know who she was, find out her name and what not. A couple of times he almost did go up to her and ask her name, but every time he was going to, Aria caught his attention first. After they had been to several of the tents, Aria was ready to move on and head to the zoo. Just as they were leaving, the same mysterious black-haired girl approached them both. Aria took her father's hand and stood behind him sort of like she was hiding in a way.

The girl smiled when she got to them. There was no doubt that the girl was beautiful. She had fair white skin the color of porcelain glass. Her long curly black hair reminded him of the dead of night. Then there were her eyes; so mesmerizing, so enchanting and intense but soft all at the same time and the color of a light forest green. She was dressed in a light pink blouse and white capris with matching pink sandals. When she spoke, her voice was soft and gentle; almost like it would set anyone at ease. "Hi," she spoke. "My name is Victoria. Victoria Esmend." Eddie hesitated to answer her for a moment, still trying to take in her presence.

"Oh-I uh, I'm sorry," he apologized. "My name is Eddie. Eddie Miller. Nice to meet you Victoria." He held out his other hand to her as a greeting handshake. She smiled and laughed slightly.

"I saw you guys when you first came in. I wanted to come over and say hi before but it looked like you two were having a lot of fun together. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I'm guessing, single parent?" Eddie laughed at this.

"Sort of, see it's just kind of complicated." Victoria nodded.

"No I totally get it. Some people just have different lifestyles than others. I was just wondering, maybe if you're not doing anything sometime we could go out for coffee sometime?" Aria peeked out from behind her father and tugged on his jacket.

"Daddy you should ask her to come with us." Eddie looked down at Aria who was staring right back up at him. Victoria peeked her head around Eddie to have a look at the young girl with a big white smile on her face. "You are so adorable! What's your name honey?" Aria stepped out from behind Eddie and answered the kind lady.

"My name is Aria, and I'm six years old." Aria was asked this question enough times to know she should answer both questions at once. Victoria looked back at Eddie with the same smile.

"She's so cute," Victoria said in her cute English accent. "She looks like you too." Eddie laughed only because that was the first time anyone had said that.

"She looks a lot more like her Mum than me." Aria tugged on her Father's jacket again until he picked her up. Victoria shifted her wait and ran her hand up her arm before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I can see the resemblance," she assured. "She looks more like you than you may think." There was a moment where the two just stood there without saying a word, but their eyes locked together in silence. Aria watched the two for some time and finally decided to interrupt.

"Victoria, do you want to come to the zoo with us?" The young lady's eyes went back to Aria. It was like breaking free from a trans of sorts.

"I would love to sweetie. Of course, as long as your Dad doesn't mind." Her head turned back to Eddie as her arms crossed behind her back, rocking back and forth while biting her lower lip. Eddie was still looking into the girl's beautiful green eyes when she said this.

"Of course not, by all means join us. We don't mind at all." The girl laughed and gave him a smile. "Come on, we were just about to head out now," he added, making his way back to the car. "Oh, and to answer your question from before, yes, I would love to go for coffee sometime." The mysterious black haired girl laughed yet again and followed behind Eddie. She got into the front seat while Eddie strapped Aria in and got himself in. The long drive to the zoo seemed to fly by with a lot of the talking they did.

Eddie told Victoria all about their 'complicated' family. To his relief and surprise, Victoria completely understood because she was in a very similar position/situation. She had been dating this guy for a little more than a year (about thirteen months) and she thought she loved him. When she was four months pregnant with his child, he told her that he was bisexual and that he had always been, and had developed stronger feelings for his roommate over her. Long story short, they broke up. He still cares for their child and such, but it was different from Eddie's situation.

"I just wish he was more involved with Carlyle like you are with Aria. It's really sweet how much you care about her." When they arrived at the zoo it was noon time. Eddie had put Aria on his shoulders as they went along. Victoria even dug through her purse to find her camera so they could take lots of pictures. They stayed at the zoo for the rest of the day. Well, at least until five, when Victoria announced that she had to get home to Carlyle. "I think you'd like meeting Carlyle, Aria. He's a lot like you in many ways. Maybe next time, yeah?"

Aria smiled and nodded, excited to make a new friend who was just like her and understood that even though females are different, they're still normal. Eddie drove Victoria home since they had brought her there. Before getting out, Victoria handed Eddie a piece of paper with her phone number on it. "Call me anytime," she said with a smile, exiting the car. Eddie smirked slightly and watched her walk away.

"So Ari, what say you and me head home and we can watch a movie and then play some games?" Aria agreed to the idea as Eddie headed home. After a minute or two, Aria got curious and had to ask.

"Daddy, do like Victoria? Do you like her more than Mum?" Eddie looked back at her, very confused.

"Why would you ask that, Aria?" Aria tapped her fingers on the window and looked at the street.

"Because it seemed like you do. I just wanted to know." Eddie couldn't think of what to say next so instead he continued driving in silence. "I had a very bad dream last night, Daddy. Mum told you, didn't she?" Eddie nodded while keeping his eyes on the road.

"She said it's happened before. Aria have you been having this dream a lot?" Aria shook her head; her red locks flying back and forth.

"Mummy didn't mean me, Daddy. I've only had the dream once. It's Mum who's had it before; the same exact dream." This was overly shocking news to Eddie. He never would've imagined that Patricia had meant it was her who had the dream. The rest of the ride home was dead quiet except for the occasional noise like a cough or sneeze. When they got home, Eddie helped Aria out of her car seat and let her run inside while he shut off the car and brought in the souvenirs from the zoo.

"Mummy, we're home!" Aria shouted as she ran inside. Patricia came downstairs and gave Aria a hug. "Daddy met a lady today at the park and we took her to the zoo with us." Patricia's expression dropped from happy to see her daughter, to slightly hurt and annoyed that Eddie was with someone else. Was it jealousy? Yeah, maybe it was, but Patricia didn't care.

"Oh he did, did he? Well, isn't that nice."

"She was really nice, and pretty. I liked her a lot but I hope she and Daddy don't date. I like you and Daddy better as a couple. Her name was Victoria and she gave us some pictures too, wanna see?" Patricia tried her best not to look jealous.

"Maybe later, hun. Where's Eddie now?" Aria pointed outside at the car which was enough. "Okay well why don't you go wait for him in your room, okay? I'll send him right in once I talk to him in private." Aria, being the curious girl she was, tried to ask what about but decided it would be better to just do as her Mum said. When Eddie came back inside Patricia caught his attention. "Aria told me you met a girl at the park today."

"Yeah I did," Eddie replied. "She was really nice and she loved Aria. She's in the same kind of situation as we are family wise. We really connected today just by talking and spending the day together." He threw his coat on the coat rack and turned back to Patricia who had her arms crossed. "What?"

"Today was supposed to be a day with just you and Aria, remember?" the redhead stated. Eddie crossed his arms as well.

"Aria is the one who invited her along, not me. And why do you care who I hang out with anyways? I'm an adult. I can see whoever I please." Patricia sighed.

"I don't want Aria going through any more crap than she already has to go through. She told me just now that she likes this girl, but hopes you and her don't end up dating." Eddie gave Patricia a serious look.

"She also told me that you had the same dream she had last night." Everything seemed to go quiet and Patricia stared down at the floor. "Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Eddie got no answer from the girl. "Patricia, answer me."

"Because I didn't want to, okay?" she answered with a semi harsh tone. "I hated how the dream made me feel, and that's why I didn't tell you." After hearing this, the American asked the most obvious question. _How did it make you feel?_ Patricia couldn't believe he actually asked that question.

"God, do I have to spell it out for you? How do you not know? It's obvious!" The dirty-blnde was starting to get annoyed himself.

"Right, it _is_ obvious, to _you_! And yeah, maybe you do." Patricia put her hand to her head. Was he serious? Was he really going to make her say it?

"It made me feel lousy, okay? I felt awful, nauseous, weak, everything that falls along with those words. It completely ruined my life the day you left! Are you happy now? Are you happy that you finally got me to say it?" Tears started to form in her light blue eyes. Eddie put his hands on her shoulders and hushed her.

"How do you think I felt, leaving? You don't think I felt just as awful? I was a mess when I left Patricia. If you had told me about the dream before we could've done something about it." Patricia sniffed, trying to stop herself from crying.

"I've had it more than once…" she barely whispered. The boy looked into her watery eyes.

"Stop crying," he hushed. She let out a puff of air through her mouth and gave him a somewhat annoyed look.

"Why should I?" she asked. He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her into him.

"This is why." His lips met hers in a long and passionate kiss. Her arms snaked around Eddie's neck as she kissed him back. She had forgotten what their kisses usually felt like. They were soft and gentle for the most part. They were usually in-between light and harsh, leaving them in the middle. Eddie's hand ran through her soft red hair as his other traced up and down her back, pulling her even closer into him. Patricia moved forward into the kiss, pushing Eddie back against the wall.

They kissed for three whole minutes before breaking apart. Patricia pressed her forehead against Eddie's as she caught her breath. "We haven't kissed in forever…" she voiced quietly. "Why now?"

"Because it just seemed so right. I love you to death Patricia but sometimes I just don't know how this has worked out so far." Patricia sighed, agreeing.

"It's just… sometimes I wonder if we made the right choice." Eddie lifted his head up and kissed her again in one quick light kiss.

"So what are you saying? You know I can't read minds." Patricia accepted the kiss, and tried to kiss back even though it was light.

"I'm saying... I can't imagine my life without you..."

"Neither can I. But you're with Joy now, Patricia. You two are practically married." She looked up at him very seriously and spoke with a shaky voice.

"Who says I can't be with both of you in that way?"


	4. Chapter 4

Aria stood alone in a dark room where the walls, ceiling and floor were all painted black. She couldn't see anything besides darkness. Her soft fragile voice spoke out, "hello?" but no one answered. The young girl's spirit raced with all sorts of emotions. The room itself smelled vaguely of old furniture, or more specifically, leather. Aria decided to take a look around while searching for a light switch that didn't exist.

As she walked along her heart beat went in an unsteady pace, picking up and slowing down at random times. There was a very eerie feeling to the place. It felt so real to the poor girl. There was a long and dark hallway leading to a big and scary looking door that would take her who knows where. She tried to walk away, but it was as if the girl was drawn to the hall. She _had _to go down there for some reason.

The hall was very creepy with its suspicious looking appearance. It seemed like the more she walked, the further she got from the door, which could have quite easily been the case if they were inside of a horror movie. The one who everyone loved would die first, and the one who no one would suspect would turn out the survivor or quite possibly the killer. Only that wasn't the case here. The little girl kept looking behind her as if someone were looking for her. As if someone was looking to get her.

When she finally reached what seemed like the end of the hall, she lifted a trembling hand to open the doorknob and take a peek inside. She found herself standing alone in her everyday bedroom. Nothing scary or unusual about that. That is until the door slammed closed with no warning or anyone closing it. Aria ran to the door and pulled hard on it. The first few times it didn't open. Eventually she managed it and escaped while she could. She ran up a flight of stairs that she assumed led to the top floor of her house. "Hello?" she called out. "Mummy? Daddy? Is anyone home?" Still she received no answer, so she lay flat on her mothers' bed, her stomach touching the surface and remained quiet.

She wanted to cry, but couldn't find the tears or the strength. When Aria realized that even simple crying wasn't an option she decided to get up and do something about this. She picked up the phone and dialed the emergency number for England. Aria never thought how happy she would be to hear a real person's voice again. "Hello, yes, I feel like there's someone in my house…" The people on the other end seemed really concerned. Aria described the situation as best she could before she heard more noises. Aria told the company on the phone to stay put and she'd be back. They tried to call after her but she was long gone.

Aria walked into the room next door which was the baby's room. To Aria's disgust and horror, her Mum lay on the floor of the room bloodied and torn apart, lying in a pool of the thick red liquid. Her Mom was lying beside her, clutching a paralyzed and pretty much dead baby Alex. Aria screamed bloody-blue-murder at the sight. She covered her entire face with her hands and ran out of the room not daring to look at the horrible sight any longer. Her eyes were starting to water as she wiped the tears from her face. She needed to find Eddie. She needed her father now more than ever.

The velvet haired girl ran back to the phone but the line had been cut and she was disconnected from the outside world. She practically flew down the stairs and tried to leave the house, but every door would not budge. She ran to her room and locked the door, thinking she would be safe there. Deep breaths came from her mouth as her heart began to beat uncontrollably. The girl sunk down to the floor and collapsed right then and there. Sooner or later the door slowly began to open. Aria's eyes went wide and her heart was pounding outside her chest.

"No," she said to the masked figure standing before her. "No! You killed my parents, just leave me alone! The figure pulled out a belt and whipped the young girl with it, striking her right across her entire back. Screams of pain cried out from her soft pastel ruby lips as she let out a blood-curdling scream that would send shivers up anyone's spine. "Leave me alone! No!" Tears poured out of her eyes as she got struck not two, but three more times; one of them being to the face.

The masked figure had broken Aria's nose as a river of blood flowed out and onto the floor everywhere. Aria tried to get away but the figure's huge hand reached down and grabbed the girl by the throat, choking her. All the while she was still choking, and screaming for her Daddy to come save her. "Daddy! Daddy help me!" She was struck twice more. The blood from her nose ran down into her mouth and covered her entire face, dripping down onto the floor below her. All the while she was screaming and crying out in horrible pain that no human should have to feel.

As the masked figure rose their hand to strike again, Aria was being shook. Not by the figure before her, but someone else. "Aria," they called to her. "Aria wake up! Wake up Aria, please!" The girl snapped awake only to see her Father standing above her. Her face actually had been covered with tears and her face was flushed pink.

"Daddy it was horrible! They killed Mommy and Alex and Mum! Daddy don't let him get me next, please Daddy!" She flung herself into Eddie's arms crying her eyes out. Eddie wrapped his arms around the girl in comfort, rubbing her back and hushing her.

"Aria it's okay, it was just a dream. No one's going to get you I promise." Aria buried her face into Eddie's shirt, crying still.

"No, Daddy it was so real. They were going to kill me too Daddy. I tried to find you but I couldn't." Eddie nuzzled his chin into her neck and kissed her.

"I promise you Aria it wasn't real. No one's dead, everyone's fine. I'll take you upstairs right now to see, would you like that?" Aria nodded, pulling away from her Father with watery eyes. She wiped the tears from her face as best she could before Eddie picked her up and brought her upstairs. Aria had fallen asleep during their movie and it was now around nine at night. Patricia and Joy were talking upstairs in their room. The American knocked on the door and waited until they said come in. He brought Aria to them to see that they were very much alive. Patricia and Joy had originally been smiling but their faces dropped immediately when they saw Aria.

"Aria, baby what's wrong?" Joy asked as they both got up to see her. Aria was too scared and upset to speak. She buried her head into Eddie's shirt again.

"She had another nightmare and this one was really bad. She was screaming and crying in her sleep." Aria lifted her head just enough to say 'it felt so real'. Patricia held out her arms for Eddie to give Aria to her but just as he was about to, Aria shook her head furiously and yelled no. "Why don't you want Mum to hold you?" Eddie asked her. Patricia looked upset and hurt that her own daughter refused to be held by her. Aria would only answer by shaking her head. "I'm sorry guys I guess I shouldn't have brought her up here at all." Joy walked up to Eddie and whispered something in his ear.

"I want to talk to you in private tomorrow morning." She returned to Patricia as Eddie walked out with Aria still in his arms.

"Ari, why didn't you want Patricia to hold you?" The girl simply shrugged. It was like she was incapable of speaking all of a sudden. "Do you want to go back to bed?" Another head shake. "Do you want to go down to the kitchen for a snack?" This time the child nodded yes. Together they went downstairs again and into the kitchen to get some cookies and milk. Eddie sat Aria down in her favorite chair and went to the cabinets to get two glasses, the cookies, and then to the fridge to fetch the milk.

As he poured them each a glass and gave them each four cookies he looked over at the girl. Her skin was pale white to the point where she had either been gravely ill or seen a ghost. "Ari what's wrong? What else happened in that dream?" She wouldn't speak. He put the plates and glasses on the table for them. The velvet haired girl hesitated before reaching for a cookie. Her eyes met her Father's with a cold and blank expression on her face. "Aria you have to communicate with me. What's the matter?" A shudder was sent down her spine.

"Daddy, I know it was a dream but it felt so real. When I saw Mommy and Mum upstairs I didn't see them as alive. I saw them how I did in the dream. They were dead, and covered with blood. Daddy promise me that you won't let that happen to them, or to me. I can't tell them about it because they'll overreact. Please Daddy, promise me." Eddie looked at his daughter and could easily tell that she was dead serious with a shaky tone in her voice.

"I promise you, Aria. I'm not going to let anything happen to them and especially you." Aria nodded in acceptance and bit into her cookie. Eddie wondered as he watched her what exactly happened in that dream she had. He wouldn't push her to tell him though because that would mean that she would have to relive the awful experience. After they had their cookies and milk, Aria told her Father that she didn't want to sleep alone tonight because her room was where the dream took place. That had been where the figure hurt her. Aria was more than tempted to search her room for blood stains. She would have done it too if her room didn't now terrify her to bits and pieces. Eddie told her that she could sleep with him again tonight.

As they both lay on the bed facing each other Eddie looked into the girl's crystal blue eyes. "You know you're going to have to spend the day with them tomorrow. It's Mother's day Aria, you can't just ignore them." Aria nodded in response and opened her mouth to say something.

"I know, but every time I look at them I see them like my dream. I won't ignore them tomorrow I promise." Eddie combed the lazy piece of hair dangling in front of her face to the side and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep on it, okay. I bet that will make you feel better, alright?" Aria yawned as her little eyes fluttered closed. "Goodnight lovebug," the boy whispered at last before closing his eyes to go to sleep as well. As Aria slept her dreams this time remained peaceful throughout the night which she was thankful for. She didn't know what things would be like in the morning, but she just hoped that whatever the turnout was that she wouldn't freak out on her either of her Mothers. What would they say about the dream if any of it slipped out? Would they be extremely concerned? Would they think she had some sort of problem? Aria couldn't let either of them know about it. She barely told her Dad about it; only enough so that he would know why she couldn't stand to have Patricia hold her.

It wasn't as bad with Joy, because even though Joy was dead, she showed no sign of being bloodied up and suffering in death. Patricia had looked as if a type of animal or something had clawed away at her flesh, literally tearing her body apart. It was an unbearable sight that Aria was horrified to witness. How was she going to spend a whole day with the both of them? Aria hoped and prayed that she would be fine in the morning. Although, one main question kept flowing through her mind: Who was the figure behind that mask?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Fair warning, this chapter deals with M rated things and what not. Enjoy if you get that far, haha**

* * *

Aria woke up early the next morning having forgotten about her awful nightmare for now. She wasn't sure if she would remember it later because she tried not to even think about that. So there was really no way to tell if the memory would come over her like a wave crashing on the shore until it happened. It was about 7:30 and Aria was the only one-aside from her baby brother who was off and on-that was awake. She casually made her way into the kitchen and made a pot of coffee like her Mom had shown her many times before. Patricia didn't drink it, but Joy and Eddie did. Her Mum was more of a tea person if that.

While the coffee was brewing she took to the pantry to pull out the bread and make toast. She poured a glass of orange juice as a substitute for her Mum and buttered the toast all by herself. Aria wished that she knew how to make something else like pancakes or eggs but she was just too young. Footsteps could be heard coming into the room at which Aria started to panic because her surprise breakfast for Mothers' day wasn't ready. To her relief it was just her father who seemed thoroughly impressed with her attempts. "Hi Daddy," Aria greeted.

"Hey Ari, is this all for Mom and Mummy?" he asked her to which she nodded proudly. "Well, I love the toast and the drink selection, but let's say we take it a little farther and make some eggs too, yeah?" Aria was delighted that her Dad was going to help her make her special surprise breakfast. She watched carefully as Eddie cooked, taking note of every step he did unless he made a mistake to at which she made a mental note _not _to do when making breakfast. At one point he had dropped one of the eggs and Aria had to cover her ears in case he swore which he almost had done but was able to control himself.

When the breakfast was ready they put it on two plates just as the girls had woken and walked into the kitchen. Joy gasped when she saw what the two had done for them. Patricia smiled with her mouth open. "Aw, thank you guys," she said with enthusiasm. Alex had been cradled in her arms when she walked out.

"Here Patricia I'll take Alex, you guys sit and eat. Aria woke up early this morning to make it for you guys. She literally made everything except for the eggs, but she helped." The redhead handed him over to Eddie so that she could sit down. Eddie got the baby something to eat and made Aria breakfast as well. The little redhead sat in between her two mothers and ate her breakfast rather silently. She only spoke when spoken to and looked down at her plate as much as she could. She hid the emotions on the inside with a smile on the outside and thankfully no one noticed.

"So babe, what do you want to do today, hmm?" Joy asked her. Patricia and Joy would take her and Alex for the Day, leaving Eddie to do whatever around the house. Maybe he'd see Victoria again. She did say call anytime. Aria looked up at her Mom with loving eyes.

"Can we go to the mall or maybe the movies? Oh, how about…" Patricia stopped her right there.

"We do anything you want, Hun. Maybe even go to the spa, yeah?" Aria smiled at this suggestion. Joy liked it also, but brought up the fact that they had the baby. "Oh yeah, shoot I forgot we can't take him with us there." Eddie happened to overhear the three girls talking casually sipping his coffee.

"I can keep Alex here with me," Eddie suggested. Patricia seemed to like his suggestion; however, Joy had some conditions. She stood up and looked him very seriously in the eyes.

"If you look after Alex today I don't want you leaving this house unless you call us. You shouldn't have anyone over either because Alex doesn't get along with strange people very well. Nothing dangerous, no loud music," Eddie listened to Joy drain on and on until she finally stopped at which point Eddie had only been partly listening. "Understood?" Eddie nodded.

"Yes Mom," he mocked her. She gave him a look but nothing more. Once everyone was done eating the girls headed out and left Eddie with the little boy.

"By Daddy!" Aria called from Joy's arms. The dirty blonde male waved to her as Patricia came over to say goodbye to Alex.

"Be good baby," she said giving him a light kiss. "You be good too," Patricia instructed. Just when he thought he was finally alone Joy came rushing back inside.

"I told you I wanted a word, but I had to wait until Aria wasn't around. I wanna know what that dream of hers was." Eddie sighed, wishing that she would just leave.

"How am I supposed to tell you when she wouldn't even tell me? All she said was that all of you were dead, I was gone, and that she was next. I talked to her about it but she doesn't even want you two to know. Don't go saying anything to her, okay Joy?" The brunette looked horrified.

"How can you expect me not to say anything when my daughter's dreaming that her mothers are dead?"

"She's my daughter Joy, not yours. I know you're like a mother to her, but she's not your child. I know her better, okay?" Joy was easily getting frustrated.

"I may not be her actual mother but I might as well be! I love her just the same, and I don't like how she's always coming to you with her problems and fears. Why doesn't she come to me or Patricia?" The dirty blonde was trying overly hard not to lose his temper.

"I love her too! And you'll have to ask her the second question yourself because I don't have an answer. Just go and enjoy your Mother's day." This was his politest way of telling her to leave. She took the hint and left without another word. The boy sunk onto the couch, still holding Alex who surprisingly was very easy to handle. Eddie looked down into his eyes seeing his own reflection and smiled. Joy had been right the other day when she said he was good with the kids. Truth be told, she was jealous.

Eddie had the whole house to himself for the day he remembered as he lay on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. He decided to pull out Victoria's number and give her a call in which they talked for hours. He wanted to invite her over but seeing as how he had the baby it would be hard. Luckily she understood and was satisfied with the phone call. By the time they hung up it was already 5pm. _Wow…_ Eddie thought to himself before checking on Alex once more.

* * *

About two weeks had gone by and Eddie and Victoria had seen each other three times. Only once did she come over to which she had the pleasure of meeting the rest of the family. Joy could tell from the moment Patricia laid eyes on this girl that she was jealous of her. The brunette didn't know why, but it was clear that it was true. Maybe she was jealous of Eddie's new relationship. Yeah, that was probably it, and she would eventually get over it; right?

One night Eddie was sitting on the living room couch. Joy had taken Aria and Alex to her parents' house for the weekend so it was just Eddie and Patricia at home. The redhead came walking into the room very casually at first until she saw the boy. She waltzed over and sat next to the boy, looking over at him. "Hey," she said, catching his attention. Eddie looked up at the girl and smiled.

"Hey," he replied. Patricia moved closer to him a bit causing him to turn and face her in curiosity.

"So, I was going to order a pizza or something to eat in a few minutes and I wanted to ask if you wanted to watch a movie or something tonight after?" Eddie thought for a minute.

"Hmm, sounds tempting," he teased. "Yeah sure I'd love to." The redhead smiled and stood up.

"Good cause I already called and got it," she said, having a feeling he'd say yes. How could he say no to pizza? Eddie stood up after her as they both went to get food. Once they had eaten Patricia out on a movie in the living room sitting beside Eddie on the loveseat which had the best view of the TV. About halfway through the movie the redhead had placed her hand on the boy's thigh; resting it there for now. He took notice of the action but didn't really respond other than wrapping his arm around her waist.

Slowly throughout the movie her hand moved further and further up until it was at the hem of his jeans. Her head was resting on Eddie's shoulder now, and the American turned slightly to face the girl. Their eyes locked for a moment only before Patricia spoke. "You know we're alone." The boy nodded. "Joy isn't here to stop us from doing whatever we want to do."

"And what is it that we want to do?" Eddie asked her. Patricia sat up straight, putting her hand on the buckle of his belt.

"Well I don't know about you, but I want this." Their lips crashed against one another. What started out as an airy passionate kiss quickly became heated in which Eddie was carrying her into his bedroom instead of her and Joy's -which had been too inconvenient- and throwing her gently down onto the bed, climbing on after her. They were practically ripping each other's clothes off just tossing them anywhere and not caring at the moment. Their kiss went deep very quickly and soon they were both shirtless and fully making out. Patricia still hand her hands on his belt buckle undoing it as well as his jeans.

Eddie's hands slid up her skirt and traced up and down her milky white skin. He got rid of her skirt and started to unclasp her bra. Now they were both down to their undergarments which were the only obstacles in the way of them fucking right then and there. Patricia moaned into the kiss as Eddie toyed at the hem of her panties, making it practically painful for her to stand while he removed them by sliding them down her legs and motor-boated her. Her fingers grabbed onto his hair and tangled in his locks before she brought her hands down to strip him of his boxers.

Eddie was hard for her. They hadn't done this since before she was pregnant with Alex, which had been the first time in a few years. Patricia rolled her hips into his causing the boy to moan. As much as he wanted her right then, he made himself wait. He started kissing at her breasts, even biting and tugging on her nipples causing her to shriek and moan. While distracting her by doing this, he held her down by her waist and lowered himself onto her not hesitating to push all the way in. Patricia cried out underneath him, moaning and practically screaming. Eddie smiled to himself and kissed her on the lips. Patricia tried to arch her back but didn't get very far as he was holding her down. However, she could still roll her hips into his.

"Fuck…" she cried after trying to arch her back once more. "Dammit Eddie, I forgot how good you were at this." Had she really just admitted that to him? Of course, and maybe she shouldn't have but it was true.

"Patricia I'm just getting started," he replied rather seductively. The girl whined, kissing back since it was the only thing he was allowing her to do. He came out of her only to push back in faster than the first time. They both moaned this time, him actually a little more. Eddie hadn't realized how much he missed the girl or how much he had needed her. He never thought he would be wanting her so badly, as badly as he did now. The blonde bucked her, letting go of her hips so that she was in control of her own body again. This she liked, as they moved in rhythm doing things that they'd never thought they'd be doing again, or at all. Some of the things they had never done before, even when she got pregnant with Aria which happened to be a pretty wild night.

They were both so close after that and suddenly it became a sort of competition to see who would last the longest. Patricia had flipped them over so that she was on top now and kissing the boy. Eddie arched his back while pushing into her farther which almost made her crack but not quite. His hands traveled up her body and cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently at first. She let out a quick moan under her breath. Eventually he got her to come by rolling his hips into hers. She came slowly, collapsing onto him and soon after he came as well.

The redhead didn't want to get up after that. Her back was kind of soar from it all and she was still kind of weak from the orgasm so that she just stayed on top of him for a few minutes. "I can't believe what just happened," she said in amazement. Eddie was slightly confused.

"You didn't like it?" She looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you kidding me?" Of course she liked it. "I just mean it was… amazing." Eddie laughed at the girl and kissed her. At this point it was almost eleven so there was really no point and staying up. Patricia asked the boy if it was okay that she slept with him tonight and of course he let her. Why wouldn't he? Especially after what just happened. Eddie honestly never thought they would do anything like that again until tonight. Before they went to sleep, Patricia whispered to him; "I told you I could love you both."


	6. Chapter 6

The couple slept soundly throughout the night without any problems. Neither of them stirred in their sleep or anything. It was morning now and the two were still in bed sleeping lightly. Eddie's arms were wrapped around Patricia as they slept their bodies close to each other's. Suddenly the phone rang, causing Eddie to wake slightly. "Patricia…" he mumbled. Only moans came from her mouth. "The phone's ringing." Patricia shooed him and pulled the covers up over them more.

"Just let it ring…" she whined. They both decided that was best and kept sleeping. That is, until the voice mail rang. The message went a little something like the following;

"Hey guys, it's Joy obviously. Listen I'm coming home a day early. Aria wasn't feeling well and I think she's sick. I'm on my way home now, actually and I'll be there in five to ten minutes. Bye." A minute or two passed by before the realization of the message sunk in for Patricia.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed and jumped out of bed. Eddie seemed confused as he rolled over and looked up at the girl. Their clothes had been thrown in every direction and Patricia pulled on what she could find.

"What, what's wrong?" Eddie asked. She gave him an "are you kidding me?" look as she pulled on her shirt and proceeded to get dressed.

"Joy's going to be back any minute with the kids! Get out of bed and get dressed," she instructed, throwing him his clothes. Eddie groaned and sat up to get dressed. The boy had literally just pulled his shirt on when Joy entered the house. Patricia didn't think to check her overall appearance before going out to greet the kids and Joy. "Joy!" she said, trying to look happy to see that she's back. "Oh hi guys, welcome home. We just got up a few minutes ago." The redhead saw the confuse expression on Joy's face and knew the brunette was suspicious. "I mean I was up a good twenty minutes ago, but Eddie just woke up right before your call." The other girl nodded but still looked suspicious.

Out from behind Joy, Aria stepped forward to say hi to her Mum. "Hi Mummy," she said. Patricia could tell the girl didn't feel well just by looking at her. Patricia greeted her daughter back and crouched down to give her a kiss. That's when Aria became suspicious herself, but of what she was not sure of. "Mummy, your shirt's on backwards," the young girl pointed out. Patricia's mouth dropped slightly, realizing that this meant trouble.

"Oh, so it is," she tried. "Silly me, I guess this shirt just looks a lot similar on both sides." Aria to another look at her Mum and noticed her hair.

"And your hair's all messed up too." This made Patricia worried to the point where she was shooing Aria off to go play in her bedroom. Joy's eyes traveled between the two of them.

"Clothes on backwards, not bothering to comb your hair, I know what's going on here," she announced to the two. "Or should I say, what _went _on here? You two slept together last night, didn't you? That would explain why you two came out both from downstairs, and from the direction of Eddie's room. Not to mention the fact that it's obvious you were caught off guard by my phone call so much that were in such a rush to get dressed. News flash for you, it's only 7am. I would've expected you to still be in night clothes, but even so you should have at least made the sex hair not so obvious."

Patricia knew that they had been caught red handed and Eddie knew as well. There was really no point in denying it now. The girl opened her mouth to say something to her but Joy wouldn't have it. She completely ignored her partner and went to lay Alex down for a nap. When she was no longer in sight, Eddie took Patricia's hand and pulled her closer to him. "Do you regret it now?" He asked, pressing his forehead against hers.

"No way," Patricia said, giving him a slight smirk. She did feel a little bad that Joy was this hurt over it, but that didn't mean she didn't still love what happened. In fact, part of her wouldn't mind if it happened again and an equal part of her wanted it to. Just because she was technically with Joy didn't mean she couldn't have feelings for them both. Not to mention that there were certain things that Eddie could give her that Joy just simply couldn't in any way. Just the same, some things that Joy did, Eddie wouldn't be able to do. Things she understood better and could help Patricia with. The redhead really hoped that Joy wasn't really mad at her because it wouldn't be good for anyone if she was.

Patricia looked up into Eddie's eyes, biting down on her lower lip. She put her hand on his chest and the other on his shoulder as she felt him wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer. He brushed against her ear with his nose and placed a light kiss on her neck, one hand moving up her back. "Good," he whispered, sending a cool breeze down her spine.

Patricia bit down on her lip again to stop the smile creeping up on her. "Good?" she repeated as a question. The boy nodded brushing against her again as his opposite hand ran down her back, resting on the small of her back and pushing her into him. The redhead knew what he was doing; he still wanted her. It was clear that Eddie still wanted the girl even more than he had last night. He still craved the feeling that he only got with Patricia. He was still hard for her.

"Maybe we'll get a chance to do this another time sometime soon?" he asked her rather flirtatiously. She hummed in reply, feeling the steady beat of his heart through his shirt.

"Mm, hopefully." Just then the two heard a door start to open and backed away from each other. Aria came out of her door shyly and peeked her eyes out into the hall. Patricia smiled at her daughter and the girl ran to her, into her Mum's arms and hugged her. "I missed you this weekend, Velvet," Patricia told her whilst giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I missed you too Mum." Aria rested her head on her Mum's shoulder for a moment before picking herself up to ask the question she had been wondering. "Mum... are you and Daddy back together now?" she voiced softly. Patricia's expression dropped and her head turned back to the boy who merely looked at her back. The older gal looked back at the younger with a very serious expression now.

"Aria honey, I know this is really confusing for you. Believe me, it's confusing for us too but sweetie I need you to understand that whatever happens none of us love you any less and we all want the best for you. Understand?" The small child nodded her head even though it was all still foggy to her.

"I understand..." she announced. Her Mum smiled at her and let her go as the youngster took off to her room. Patricia turned back to Eddie just to say that she should go talk to Joy about what happened. So many things were running through poor Aria's mind at the time. Was Patricia with Joy, or Eddie? Was it even possible for her to be with both? Who did she love more? All Aria wanted in the end was for her parents to be happy. That meant Patricia Eddie _and _Joy. The girl trudged sulkily back to her room and fell onto her bed.

Nothing made sense right now and everything confused the girl. There was only so much at one time that a six year old could take in. It was hard enough living with the fact that kids at school didn't believe her when she said she had two mommies. Aria lay back on her bed staring at the ceiling and thinking to herself. After a while she decided to get up, and do something that she hadn't done since Alex was a new born at about 3 months old. She took to her closet and opened the door, standing on a stool so that she could reach the lowest shelf where she kept a secret box of drawings. Carefully she climbed down with the box, opened it up and took out her box of crayons that was always inside.

Aria watched the colors spill out onto the floor when she tipped it upside down. One by one they rolled past her, spreading themselves out on their own. Once they were all sprawled out and ready to be used, the little girl took out one of the drawings and began to color it in. It was a powerful drawing considering she drew it at age five. When you looked at it, it almost looked like it wasn't drawn by a five year old, but a regular teen instead. It was her best yet, and it took her a long time to finish it. Even still, it was only drawn, not colored. At first glance you would think nothing more of it than just an incredible drawing, but behind the works held a very strong message.

Aria got the idea for this drawing from a very clear memory that had haunted her for quite some time. It was based on the day her parents had what she viewed as the biggest argument in all of England. That was the night where for Aria, all hell broke loose. Her Father had left and caught a plane back to America –although he didn't stay for long. The girl remembered seeing her mother break down in pure tears, streams of water flowing down her hot red cheeks. It wasn't too long ago for her to forget, even though she was very little. It still bothered her to this day.

Ari sighed and picked out the next crayon to color in the picture. She drew her Mum, Patricia, sitting on the couch of their old home. She was hunched over so that her hair fell to the floor but did not touch. You could not see her face buried in her hands, but still the same her tears flowed like a river after the morning rain. Aria worked on her hair, an ever so vibrant red at that time. Her memory was so remarkable that she even remembered what Patricia had been wearing that day. In the far corner of the small room stood the door, half propped open with a younger and angrier Eddie walking out on them both. Aria still couldn't shake that part of the memory. The picture was almost as real as the memory itself she found whilst coloring it in.

A knock on the door caught the girl's attention, her eyes darting towards the door and widening. She shoved the drawing box under her bed so that whoever it was could not see. The door slowly opened and Eddie came through. "Hey Ari," he said to the girl. She smiled weakly and waved. "Joy said over the message you weren't feeling well. What's wrong?" She merely shrugged, causing Eddie to enter for real. "Okay, what's wrong? I won't leave until you tell me." Ari sighed, climbing onto the bed next to where Eddie was sitting.

"I just want you and Mum to be happy; Mommy too. I know you guys aren't. Mom is only happy when she's with Mummy. Mummy says she's happy with both of you but sometimes I can tell she wants to choose just one. You seem to be happy around Mummy as well but also Victoria. It's all one big confusing mess." Eddie knew the girl was right. In all of this confusion it hadn't dawned on him just how this could be affecting Aria.

"I know everything seems really confusing right now Ari. Believe me, it's a lot worse for us grownups." Eddie motioned for the girl to hop up next to him as he sat and the girl climbed into his lap where he took her in his arms. "I promise Aria, this will all make sense when you're older. But for now, no matter what I want you to be proud of your family, okay?" She nodded.

"I am proud," her little voice spoke out. Eddie gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Good. Don't let anyone tell you that you're family isn't normal just because you have three parents." The girl's face buried its way into her Father's chest where he could barely hear the words "I love you Daddy" come from her lips. "I love you too." After a minute of their embrace Eddie whispered to the girl that Joy wanted to see her. She felt a little warmer than usual, he noticed. Maybe she _was_ getting sick after all. Aria did not move at first. She didn't want to leave the comfort of her Father's big and accepting arms that made her feel safe and not alone. Eventually she let him go and took her leave.

Eddie watched the girl run off. He was worried about her, no doubt. The American boy stood up from the bed and was about to head out when he almost tripped over an abandoned crayon left on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and discovered a whole line of crayons and papers under her bed. Curiously he pulled them out and took a look at the drawings. Although he had never seen them before he knew these drawings well; very well, actually. "Oh my god…" Eddie said to himself when he came upon the one that Aria had just been working on. He turned it over with a careful hand. Written on the back was Aria's neat hand writing that was very recent. _I want nothing more to return to this day if I could and stop the bad from being so. Most of all, I just want my Daddy back. He broke Mummy's fragile heart. I want to forgive him like I know she would. It's just hard for me to get past._


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: chapter contains rated M implications just an fyi**

* * *

Later that night Patricia had taken Aria to the doctors because her fever was getting worse and she looked sicker than before. Eddie came out of his room closing the door behind him and headed to the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of red wine while reaching for a wine glass out of the cabinet. Eddie wasn't one to drink all that often but he did on occasions. Now seemed like a perfect time to do it since it would help ease his mind a bit from earlier. He was starting to think that sleeping with Patricia again was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made if not the biggest. It felt to him like it was entirely wrong. Especially after seeing Aria's drawing. It made the boy feel like he was setting Patricia up, and that in a matter of an instant he would break her heart again.

Eddie thought over the situation about twenty times since reading that message on the back of the drawing and yet he still didn't know what to do. Should he show the picture to Patricia and Joy? No, that would only make the situation even more complicated. What could he do that wouldn't result in hurting someone? There really wasn't anything for him to do. Any way you looked at it someone was going to get their heart crushed. The blonde took a long sip of the harsh re liquid from the cup as he thought about it some more. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Aria or Patricia. Maybe pacing would help, he thought as he marched around in small circles. His mind flooded back to that night from the picture. It was a clear memory for him sometimes and blurry at others. This time was the clearest since the actual incident itself.

* * *

Eddie and Patricia had just gotten into a huge argument over something small that turned into this whole big thing. Neither of them could remember what started the argument; only that they were driving when it happened. The car pulled up to the house after slamming on the breaks and parking. Patricia grabbed Aria out of her car seat and urged her to run inside after unlocking the door before Eddie could even park. The redhead ran inside after her daughter and yelled for her to go to her room. She didn't want Aria to see any art of this although she had already seen enough. Eddie came charging inside after her, angered by the previous said argument. "You always have to be right, don't you Patricia! This isn't about us anymore, it's about you! You're the one who said that you wanted to get married in the first lace and I proposed to you because I thought I loved you. I guess I was wrong about that."

Patricia was already hurt by words previously said. A few tears escaped her light blue eyes and slipped down her cheeks. "Well if you don't love me anymore then why don't you leave?! No one's making you stay! I never said I needed you anyways." Eddie gave her a fake smile, gritting through his teeth.

"See, it's _that _kind of attitude that got us into this argument in the first place!" Patricia whipped around to face him, hurt and angered by his choice of words.

"So I'm always the one to start things, am I? Last I checked we've had plenty of arguments that you've started!" Eddie slammed his hands over his face in grief.

"I can't put up with anymore Patricia. You're not the same girl I thought you were. You've obviously changed since high school. You're moody, clingy, you don't trust me when I'm out by myself, I can't put up with you!" Tears continue to flow from her eyes as she harshly wipes them away.

"Well excuse me for being concerned! Call me a jealous moody bitch why don't you? And like I said, no one's keeping you here! I don't want to be with someone who has to 'put up with me' anyways! Leave, Eddie! Just get out of here, I can see you want to! Go!"

"You know what, I _should _call you a jealous moody bitch because that's what you've become! That's _exactly _what you've become! And you know something else, I will leave. I'll go right now, if that's what you want." Patricia collapsed onto the couch now with waterworks pouring from her face. "Is that what you want, Patricia? Is it?!" The redhead couldn't control herself anymore. Little did they both know that Aria had been watching and listening to this whole thing.

"I said leave, Eddie! I can't have you with us anymore, not me or Aria. You've changed as well," she replied between sniffles and harsh breathing.

"Fine, I'm going." Eddie reached for the door and pulled it open. "Hope you're happy now." His back turned to leave; Patricia couldn't bear to watch. Aria's little eyes went wide at the sight of her father leaving.

"Daddy!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, running out into the room as fast as her toddler legs could carry her. But it was too late, and Eddie was gone after the door slam. Aria's heart was shattered along with her mothers, and streams of tears flooded down her face as well. "Daddy!" she kept screaming, hoping that somehow he'd hear her and come back although he never did.

"How could he possibly think I'd be happy after that?" Patricia whispered to herself. She knew deep down that she had to pull herself together for Aria's sake, but it would be hard. However, she promised herself that she would do it.

* * *

After that memory Eddie didn't know what to do. He continued to sip from the glass in hand when he heard footsteps coming. Joy entered the kitchen and was taken aback when she saw Eddie there as well. "What are you doing here?" she asked him, a confused look on her face.

"I live here to you know," he replied with his smart comment. The brunette was not amused, and rolled her eyes. She grabbed a wine glass as well and poured herself a cup.

"I meat what are you doing in the kitchen. You don't even drink." Eddie shrugged, looking down at his cup.

"That's one thing you're wrong about, Joy. I don't drink often, but I do drink. I guess there's a lot you don't know about me." Joy took a sip the same time Eddie did and looked at him.

"I know you slept with Patricia last night, and I know that if you don't cut it out you're going to break her heart again. You can't keep playing with her emotions like this, Eddie. She's not a doll." The boy sighed, taking in what she had just said. "But you're right, there is a lot I don't know about you and there's a lot you don't know about me either."

This gave Eddie an idea. "Alright, how about we play a game," he proposed. "I'll tell you something, we'll take a drink, then you tell me something, we'll take a drink. So on and so forth." Joy studied this proposal.

"How big can the thing we tell be?" she asked curiously. Eddie shrugged.

"It can be anything really. Anything you want to get off your chest. It'll be a good way to relieve our consciences." The girl nodded, urging him to go first since it was his idea. "Okay," he thought. "My mom has married three other guys since my parents separated." Joy was slightly shocked by this.

"Wow," she said. They took a drink before her turn. "When I was ten, I threw up at my own birthday party but I was so embarrassed that I blamed it on another girl," she said shyly taking another drink. They kept playing this game and soon more than an hour passed by. The two of them were rather tipsy by thirty minutes, and now they were flat out drunk. In fact, so drunk that they had been letting things slip that were bigger and bigger. They had to move to the living room away from any sharp objects just in case, but were still playing. Now it was Joy's turn again.

"When you first came to Anubis, I knew that Patricia liked you a lot and even I had a small crush on you at some point," she admitted. This suddenly took the boy by surprise. He had always thought that Joy had hated him in one way or another, but she just proved him wrong. They both took a rather long sip this time before Eddie went again. "Really?" he asked in response to that last confession. Joy nodded, smiling half way. "Because when I first met you I thought you were really cute as well," he confessed. Joy blushed slightly. Eddie leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. "I still think that even now, sometimes."

What happened next was so unexpected. Whether or not it was because they were both drunk (which was most likely the reason) or because they were so caught up in confessions neither of them could explain. Eddie moved closer to the girl as she stepped back and soon had her pinned against the wall. He leaned into her and placed a long kiss on the side of her neck, causing a very soft moan to escape Joy's lips as she put a hand on Eddie's shoulder. At first she was going to stop him and tell him that this was wrong, even though they were drunk and could possibly get away with it. Then, Eddie started kissing down her neck, and tugging on the bottom of her blouse. Joy's hand ran down the boy's arm as her other hand slipped up his shirt and slid up his back. Even though Joy knew that this was wrong, it just felt so amazing that she was conflicted to say anything. What finally made up her mind was when Eddie's lips crashed on hers and she practically saw stars.

Eddie pulled back after a good twenty thirty seconds and pressed his forehead against hers. Joy bit down on her lower lip, wanting to ask if they would go further and yet not wanting to because she knew it was wrong. "If you want me to keep going just say so," he told her as his hands slipped under her shirt and ran against her skin so lightly that it sent shivers down her spine. With somewhat shaky breath, Joy answered him with a 'yes'.

"You should know if we do," she started. "Technically, I'm still a virgin…" Eddie pressed his lips against hers again, pulling her into him and whispered _'not for long'._

* * *

"Oh my god!" Joy had cried out right before she came. Now the two were laying side by side in Eddie's room staying pretty silent. "We shouldn't have done it," Joy said, although she was glad they had. It was amazing to her. She still couldn't believe however that she actually told Eddie that she was still a virgin. Well, not anymore she wasn't, but even so not even Patricia had known.

"I know we shouldn't have," Eddie agreed. "I guess though now you and Patricia are even," he told her which in a way was true. Joy nodded, looking up at the ceiling.

"I should go pick up the girls at the hospital…" Joy remembered. "I'll take Alex with me so you can have the night off." Eddie thanked the girl as they both got up and got dressed. Eddie never pictured hooking up with Joy, but now that he did it was almost impossible to look at her the same way.

After Joy left, the phone had rang so Eddie picked it up and answered it like any normal person would do. "Hello?" he said, waiting for the other line.

"Eddie? Eddie it's Patricia. Eddie… Aria's missing." The boy's eyes went wide as he sprung up from the couch.

"What do you mean she's missing? Where is she? She's supposed to be with you guys!" Patricia sounded nervous and panicked on the phone. He could tell she was close to tears.

"I don't know! She slipped out of my sight and I can't find her anywhere! Eddie you have to go out and look for her, please! She could be anywhere!" Eddie pulled on his coat as they spoke and grabbed his car keys.

"Patricia calm down I'm leaving right now. I'll find her, I promise. Let me go, okay?" They said their goodbyes and Eddie headed out the door into his car. It was pouring rain outside as he peeled out of the driveway and onto the road. He grabbed his cell out of his pocket and dialed Victoria, asking her if she'd seen Aria. The answer was no, but she offered to help look for her. Eddie swung by Victoria's house and picked her up on the way for looking for Aria. She met him outside immediately once he pulled up.

"Any sign of her?" Victoria asked. Eddie simply shook his head and took off as soon as her door was closed. "We'll find her, don't worry." Truth be told he was worrying more than anything in the world. They had been driving for about fifteen minutes now.

"God I hope she's alright wherever she is…" Eddie whispered under his breath. Victoria still heard though, and assured him she would be fine. "What if she's not? What if…" his thoughts and words were immediately cut off by what he saw through his window. "Aria…" Eddie slammed on the breaks of his car and it skidded a bit. Pulling over, Eddie opened the door and got out. "Aria!" The girl was running down the street in the pouring rain, not even wearing a coat. Victoria got out of the car as well and she too called Aria's name. "Aria come back here!" They had no idea where she was going as she was running the opposite direction. "Aria!" Finally the girl heard him, and whipped her head around to face them. Their eyes met for a brief moment before her Father noticed the car coming right at her. "Aria watch out!" The little redhead whipped back around in an instant. All you could hear was the start of a scream before everything fell silent. "Aria!"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hey guys, SO very sorry for not updating as much lately. Things have been really busy and I can't get around to it as much as I used to. But I'm going to keep trying, so keep reading :) **

* * *

Eddie ran over to the girl, dropping down on his knees. His skin skidded across the harsh gravel, cutting his knees up pretty badly yet Eddie didn't care. The car that had just hit his baby girl had bolted it, leaving the three of them in a cloud of dust. The American boy looked down at Aria's now cold, lifeless face and saw all the color had been drawn from her. It was like she was dead, but still breathing. Barely breathing, but breathing none the less. The boy's eyes widened as he looked down at the girl cradled in his arms. His breath was short, and he could barely speak. He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. Victoria ran over to him after getting off the phone with an ambulance.

"Eddie, I've called an ambulance for Aria. They're coming right now. Oh god, she doesn't look too good…" the girl told him. Eddie's eyes slammed shut, his grip on Aria tightening slightly but enough to hurt the poor girl. He was fighting the tears that were desperately trying to break through. His head dropped down, not wanting to be here, not wanting this to be real. His sparkling brown eyes opened slightly, hoping that it was all a horrible dream. Of course it wasn't. It had to be real, didn't it?

"Stay here with Aria…" Eddie managed, still fighting the tears. Slowly getting up, the American handed Aria over to Victoria and turned to go back to his car. The girl looked confused but cradled the child in her arms like Eddie had.

"But where are you going?" she questioned. He didn't answer her right away. It wasn't until his hand was clenched around the car door handle that he spoke again.

"I just have to go somewhere. I'll meet you at the hospital; just stay here until the ambulance comes, okay?" He didn't wait for a response before getting in the car and slamming the door closed. However, he did manage to catch a nod from the girl which was good enough. He slammed on the breaks and peeled out of there as fast as he could, driving far away from Victoria, from Aria, from everything. He couldn't take it anymore. Everything he did was a mistake, and nothing in his life turned out right. Except for Aria. She was practically the only reason Eddie was still around, and yet he still found a way to crush her heart as well even though he swore that he would always be there for her. Well, who was he kidding? He broke that promise the day he walked out on Patricia.

Only when he was about a mile away from it all did Eddie finally let the tears fall from his eyes. They didn't just fall, oh no. They poured out, drowning his vision and making everything blurry. Eddie harshly wiped away the tears with the palm of his hand and kept driving. He drove on and on for about 10 minutes, and pulled into an old abandoned parking lot that had been deserted so long ago that the grass had grown over the pavement. It was mostly dirt now anyways. After parking, the boy left the car and practically collapsed onto the ground in tears. There was a puddle in front of him in the muddy dirt. He looked into it and saw his reflection in the moon light.

"Look at yourself," he said aloud. "You're a mess. Everything you do is a mess, and nothing you do turns out right. All you've ever done was hurt. You've hurt everyone, even yourself. You broke Patricia's heart, destroyed Joy's feelings by sleeping with your ex, crushed every single dream that Aria had, and now she could be dead because of you. You're worthless, pathetic, and all you do is destroy. You're a monster, Eddie," the boy told himself. It usually took a lot to get to Eddie, but after that, every little thing seemed to destroy him. The boy broke down, collapsing once more and burying his head into his knees and covering it with his hands. There he stayed for a good five minutes or so, sobbing and hating himself.

When he finally raised his head, he looked into the puddle again, however his reflection was gone. "I'm the reason Aria's hurt. If she dies, it will be my fault. Who am I kidding, I've already killed her. I killed her the day I left. I really am a monster after all… no wonder she keeps having those nightmares. I broke her heart along with Patricia's. Oh god…. I'm such an idiot!" Eddie covered his face with his hands and groaned in agony. Rising on his feet, the boy looked up at the sky and screamed out loud. "Is everything I do a mistake?!" He looked back down at the ground again, unsure. "Maybe I'm the mistake…"

* * *

Back at the hospital, Victoria had just arrived in the ambulance with Aria as the nurses rushed her to the room with her mothers. Patricia saw her first and nearly fainted. "Aria!" she screamed. Joy caught the girl before she fell, trying to revive her. Victoria stepped into the room to explain what had happened.

"Eddie told me to bring her here. He'll be here soon." Joy stepped forward after making sure Patricia was okay.

"What happened to Aria?" she pleaded, a look a desperation in her eyes as she spoke. You could tell that Joy was hurting just as much as everyone else about Aria. Well, not quite as much as Eddie was of course. Victoria swallowed the lump in her throat before she spoke another word.

"She was hit by a car," the girl's voice came in a soft whisper. Patricia gasped and dropped on her knees at Aria's bedside.

"My baby! Oh god…" Just then, a few nurses came in and told them that only one of them could stay at a time. Patricia spoke up immediately and insisted that she stay with the girl. Joy respected her wish, and the two ladies left the room, leaving just Mother and Daughter now. "Oh Aria, oh my baby…" no more words could really come from Patricia's mouth. She was speechless. "Oh god, why her? Why did it have to be Aria? The poor girl is soaked to the bone." Patricia dragged the covers up and over her daughter's body, trying to preserve the heat. "Aria, please honey, please say something. Anything." Aria did nothing. Tears started to form in Patricia's blue eyes as they trickled down her flushed cheeks. "Aria please…" still nothing.

Patricia buried her face in her hands and cried. She didn't know how long she had been at it, but she kept crying. Suddenly, Aria stirred. Her hand moved and brushed against her mother's arm. Patricia removed her hands at once and looked down at her daughter. "Aria?" she whispered. Aria's small lips quivered a moment before opening to answer her though the girl's eyes remained shut tight.

"Am I dead?" Patricia hesitated to answer the girl, surprised that she was even talking at all. "Mum… am I dead?" The redhead grabbed onto the child's hand and kissed it.

"No sweetie." Patricia said, with a slight smile. "No, you're alive." Aria's breathing held still for a second, causing her mother to gasp but let out a sigh of relief when the breathing continued again.

"I feel dead, mum." Aria's eyes still wouldn't open. It wasn't a big deal right then. All that mattered was that she was alive.

"Shh, Aria don't talk like that. You're going to be fine, okay?" Hearing those words come out of Aria's mouth scared Patricia more than anything. She couldn't live without Aria. "You're not going to die, I promise."

"How do you know?" Aria spoke, a little louder this time. The girl sighed.

"I just know." Aria could feel her mother's hand comb through her hair and brush the side of her face. The girl desperately tried to open her eyes, and eventually did.

"It hurts, Mummy. Make it stop." Patricia's eyes filled with tears yet again, seeing her daughter so weak and helpless. It broke her heart.

"I know baby. I wish I could, Aria. I'd make all the pain go away if I could." With her eyes now opened more fully, Aria looked around the room for Eddie.

"Where's daddy?" Just then, the door opened, and Joy stuck her head in.

"Patricia, Eddie's here." The redhead nodded at her partner, and looked back at Aria. However, Aria was more concerned with what her other mother had said.

"What's that?" Joy looked at Aria and her eyes widened a bit. She gave a smile, glad to know the girl was well.

"Oh, nothing sweetie. You need you're rest dear, go on and have a nap, won't you?" Aria was not kidding around. She wanted to see Eddie.

"Where is he? I heard you mention his name. I want to see daddy before I die." Patricia took Aria's hand once more and kissed it again.

"Shh, you're not going to die, Aria. Okay baby, you can see him. It's all right, he's outside. I'll go get him." Just as Patricia got up to go get the boy, Aria spoke again.

"I ran away because I was hurt. I was confused... and upset. But I know better now. Get Daddy, Mum." Patricia was about to reply, but held back and did as her daughter asked. Soon after, the boy came in. His jeans were torn, he was covered with dirt, mud and everything imaginable, and still the girl was glad to see him.

"Hey Lovebug," he called to the girl. It was obvious he had been crying. "How're you doing?" Aria smiled when he spoke to her, still happy to hear the sound of his voice after all these years. She simply answered him with 'better'. Eddie walked over to her bed and sat on the edge beside her. "Why did you run away like that? You scared us half to death."

"I felt lost in my own confusion," she said with a sigh. Aria had to be one of the most intelligent six year olds alive. "I just want things to be clear again… back to how they used to be." Eddie frowned, looking down into her precious blue eyes. The same familiar eyes that he remembered looking into the day he left. Only, they belonged to someone else.

"Go to sleep, Ari. You need your rest." Aria trembled slightly under the covers.

"I'm afraid," she whispered. Eddie shook his head, and kissed the girl on the cheek.

"Don't be. Good night, Ari." With that, the girl's eyes closed and she drifted off into a deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Eddie watched Aria fall asleep on the hospital bed until he was sure she would not wake up. "Sweet dreams Ari," he whispered, giving her a kiss on the forehead before standing to exit the room. Joy was the first thing he saw when he opened the door to leave the room.

"You've got some nerve, Eddie Miller! How dare you! How, dare you!" Eddie was in no mood to deal with this. He pushed Joy aside and kept walking. Joy gasped, going after him and turning him around. "I'm not through with you!" This is what made Eddie snap.

"Well maybe I'm through with _you, _okay? I'm through with you, your yelling, and your constantly blaming me for everything that goes wrong even when I had nothing to do with the situation! What could it possibly be this time, Joy? Huh? What possible thing could I have done that's set you off?" The brunette looked completely offended at Eddie's words. Victoria and Patricia stood by, both wide eyed.

"Excuse you, but in case you hadn't noticed, our daughter is in the emergency room thanks to you." Eddie was already feeling crappy, but hearing this from Joy completely pushed him over the edge.

"She's not your daughter, Joy! She's mine and Patricia's. She was never your daughter and she never will be! Why you can't get that through your head has been haunting me since the day you came into her life. Ever since Aria was born you've acted like she was your daughter. News flash Joy, she's not! And another thing, how dare me? How dare you, excuse me of being the reason why Aria is here! _You _were supposed to be watching her with Patricia. She left the hospital on _your _and Patricia's watch. If anyone's to blame for this it would be you two, but mostly you, Joy." Patricia stepped in, trying to stop the arguing.

"Both of you stop it, please. You're making a scene!" Eddie only laughed at her attempt to stop them. He was only getting started at telling Joy what he's wanted to tell her for years.

"In fact Joy, _you're _the reason we split up in the first place! You were always the one telling Patricia to keep a careful watch over me, and that I would do her wrong. We were doing just fine until _you _had to come in and ruin it."

"That's not true…" Joy said, even though in reality, she knew it was. Tears were forming in her brilliant brown eyes.

"Do you want to know what I found in Aria's closet? Here, take a look." Eddie pulled the drawing that he had found out of his pocket, it having been put there before he left to find Aria. He handed it to Joy so that she could see it.

"Where did you get this," Joy asked, looking at it as if it weren't real, and yet holding it as if it was going to attack her at any second.

"I got it from Aria's room, that's where. Aria drew it herself." Victoria glanced at the picture over Joy's shoulder.

"She's quite the talented young girl," Victoria stated. Eddie smiled for a second, looking back at Victoria.

"She really is, it's incredible. But it's obvious that Aria's hurt. She's confused at what to think of as normal because all her life I was her father, and Patricia was her mother. Then all of a sudden you came into the picture, we split and you ended up with Patricia in the end. As if that wasn't confusing enough, you guys lied to her for years about how it was normal to have two mothers and a father living together under one roof and have them all love each other. It doesn't work like that, Joy. Not to mention the fact that you two are a couple and yet I'm Alex's father too. That's not normal."

Joy's expression was blank as she listened to Eddie continue on. "I'm sick of lying to her, saying that everything is okay and everything will be fine. It's not fine, and it hasn't been fine since the day we split up. All of this madness is driving the girl insane. Every time I talk to her, 'I want things to be normal again. I want it to be like before.' Have you ever once bothered to listen to her?"

"How could I? She's never mentioned this stuff to me," Joy replied with a shaky tone in her voice. Eddie just laughed at her stupidity.

"Of course not. Because I'm the only one she really trusts. I don't know why, but there's one thing I do know." Patricia's eyes widened as she knew exactly what Eddie was about to say.

"Eddie, don't. Don't say it," she begged him. Of course he didn't listen. It needed to be said.

"Aria doesn't want you here." Joy gasped loudly with a horrid expression taking over her face. She was in complete shock, and wasn't sure how to handle this. The tears in her eyes started coming out, slowly traveling down her face as Joy handed Alex to Patricia.

"How could you even say that to me?" Joy muttered. Eddie was in shock towards the fact that she still didn't get it. Would she ever get it?

"Because it's true! I'm not saying she doesn't love you, Joy. All I'm saying is that she wants to be normal, and the life we're giving her isn't normal. You tried to keep her from knowing that I was here." Joy tried to interrupt him but he wouldn't have it. "Don't bother with the lies, Joy. Ever since you became such a big part of her life you've been trying to get her to forget about me. Maybe you thought it was for the best at the time, but obviously you were wrong. Don't you get it? Aria _can't _forget about me. She remembers me every time she has that nightmare. Every time she looks in the mirror. I _am _her. I'm a _part _of her Joy. What are you? You're just a girl who came waltzing in to Patricia's aid so you could finally be with her. Admit it Joy, you never wanted us together in the first place. You thought it was cute in high school but you thought it would never last." Joy's face was covered in silent tears now as she frantically tried to wipe them away to no prevail.

"You really _are _a monster Eddie," she told him straight to his face. With that, Joy turned and bolted the opposite direction down the hall, away from everyone. Eddie felt the guilt in the pit of his stomach now, knowing how crappy he must have made her feel. It was all true though, everything he said. They both knew it. Then again, maybe to say it –no not say, yell it- to her in public like this wasn't exactly the best option. The blonde rubbed his face with his hands like he usually did when something was wrong and looked at the floor.

"I've gotta go," he whispered to anyone listening. He walked over to Victoria and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Patricia would normally have gotten one as well but seeing as how Eddie could barely stand to look at her, that was highly unapproachable.

"Where are you going?" the redhead questioned, cradling Alex in her arms. Eddie somewhat ignored her, not turning to look her in the eyes.

"I've just gotta go. C'mon Victoria, I'll take you home." The two of them left the hospital without saying a word. Eddie knew that he was wrong to say all those things to Joy, even if they were true. He was just mad at the world, and nothing made sense. Once the two were in the car, Victoria looked at him for a minute or two.

"Are you okay?" The blonde shook his head in response. The girl let out a sigh. "Don't feel bad, Eddie. It was nowhere near your fault for what happened to Aria, and everything you said was true then she needs to know."

"I shouldn't have said it," came from the boy rather sharply. "Even if it was true, I shouldn't have said it. Everything I do, everything I say is a mistake." The dark haired girl frowned.

"Hey now, don't say that. It's not true, I know it." Eddie merely shrugged. The rest of the ride was silent, neither of them knowing what to say. When the car pulled up to Victoria's house, the girl opened the door, ready to leave.

"Victoria," Eddie called her before she left. The girl turned to face him, waiting for him to continue. "Thank you, for everything." The blonde leaned over and kissed her, causing the girl to blush slightly at the unexpected kiss. "We'll keep in touch," he added. At first, she didn't know what he meant by that. However, she would soon know perfectly. Eddie took the long way home after dropping Victoria off so that he could have some time to think things over. When he eventually made it home, Patricia had beaten him there. Slowly he entered the house, hesitatingly. Patricia's voice caught him off guard.

"Joy's not here," she told him. "She was so upset that she's staying with her parents for a few days." Eddie sighed, in relief and entered the house fully, closing the door behind him. "What the hell was that, back at the hospital?" Patricia asked him. Eddie had no words, and just stood there. "Never mind," she told him, and without saying another word she left to go put Alex to bed. When he was sure that she was gone with her door closed, Eddie snuck off to see that Aria was taken care of. Quietly, he opened the door to the little girl's room, peeking his head inside to check on her. She was out if the damp clothes they found her in, and now in comfortable pajamas sleeping under her covers. Or so it seemed, anyways. Eddie gave a slight smile before backing away and closing the door. It wasn't until the door was almost all the way closed that a voice as heard.

"Daddy?" the voice called. Eddie sighed, looking down. He hoped that this wouldn't happen, but it indeed had.

"Yes Ari?" he said, opening the door again to look at her. Aria smiled as her sleepy eyes blinked twice.

"I just wanted to make sure you were still there." Eddie felt his heart warm deep in his chest when Aria spoke. How could he even think about carrying out his plan? He gave his daughter a smile.

"I'll always be there," he told her. The little girl smiled back and fell back asleep as she whispered 'I love you' to her father. "I love you too, Ari." Eddie looked at the girl now fast asleep once more. His voice dropped to a whisper as he repeated himself. "I love you too."

* * *

Three days passed and Joy still wasn't back. All Eddie had done over that time was stay in his room. He hadn't talked to anyone but Aria those two occasions that she came in to check on him. He still felt awful about everything that happened. Luckily Aria was recovering quite well. She hadn't been hurt too badly as the car had only barely hit her in the side. She had bruised a few ribs, and it was painful to walk sometimes, but she was fine. She had gone unconscious mainly out of shock. It was now late at night, almost midnight even. Eddie looked down at the packed bags on his bed with a sigh. How could he go through with this now? After he just told Aria that he would always be there for her. It was too late anyways; he already made the arrangements.

Eddie closed the last bag and grabbed them all at once, quietly bringing them out to his car and packing the trunk. When the boy came in to get the last of his things, he was just about to leave when a voice stopped him. "Where are you going?" Patricia asked him. Eddie's spirit sunk, dropping his things to the floor and turning around to face Patricia.

"Patricia, I have to go. I can't stay here anymore." Patricia's face faded, not believing what she was hearing. Her eyes widened slightly, her voice lowering to a hushed tone.

"You're leaving?" There was a moment of pause between them. "Y-you can't! You can't just leave, not now, not after everything that just happened! What makes you think you can just walk out on everything we've been through?" Eddie sighed, fully turning around to face the girl.

"Patricia, you don't understand…" the redhead cut him off.

"Oh, I understand, Eddie. I understand perfectly. You're walking out again just like you did three years ago! What do think is going to happen to your daughter? How can you just leave her here after you promised to always be there for her?" Tears streamed from the girl's face but she didn't care. She let them fall.

"Patricia," Eddie started.

"No, stop interrupting me, Eddie. How dare you leave me all alone with Aria and Alex! You're their father, Eddie Miller! You're supposed to be there for them just as I am!" Eddie took a step towards Patricia.

"Listen to me, I _have _to go. Everything I do is a mistake, I shouldn't be here. Tell Aria goodbye for me, but I can't stay. You should be with Joy, Patricia. She obviously loves you, and I don't want to put you through any of the same crap I did before. I shouldn't have moved in with you guys. I shouldn't have made such and impression on Aria. I'm sorry," the blonde said, turning to head back out.

"That's just the thing," the girl called after him. "You _did _move in with us, you've already made such an impression on her. Leaving now will only break her heart! Is that what you want, Eddie?" Patricia was shouting now, surely waking the children. "Do you want to see the look on her face, when she finds out you've left her for good? Damn you, Eddie! If you leave her now, if you leave me, you'll go to hell." No words came out of the boy. He picked up his things from the floor in silence. "You can't do this, Eddie Miller, not to me, not to Aria! You say you don't want to put me through the same crap you did before, but you don't realize that you're doing it right now! If you leave…" her words were drowned out by tears. The girl eventually collapsed, her own weakness being the cause of her fall. "If you leave…" was all she could say. Finally she gave in, and the tears kept on flowing out of her eyes like a river on a rainy day.

From the hall, little feet could be heard. Aria had woken, and heard almost everything. "Daddy where are you going?" Eddie didn't have the heart to turn around and face her. "Daddy…" His hand grasped the knob of the door, turning it and opening it to the night. "Daddy, no… daddy wait!" Aria made a run for the door but was caught in her mother's arms who rose only to protect her daughter from being hurt any longer. "Daddy!" Aria's screams were ones that could _never _be forgotten. "Daddy don't go! Daddy!" The little girl's cries did nothing as the blonde stepped out into the cold night air.

"I'm sorry Ari," he said as he closed the door behind him. He could still hear her screams from his car as he started it up and held back tears of his own once more.

"Daddy!" Her screams were loud and echoed through the house. They broke Eddie's heart into a million pieces each time he heard her cries. He could bare it no longer, and sped away from it all. He had to go.

Back inside, Aria cried her heart out in her mum's arms. Patricia did her best to comfort her daughter whilst comforting herself as well. "Damn you, Eddie Miller. Wasn't it enough to break my heart the first time?" In between sniffles and shakes and cries Patricia thought about what had happened in the hospital. Everything he said about Joy, every word, she realized had truth behind it the more she thought about it. If only she could get Joy to admit it, then she would know. The girl caressed her child and kissed her head, telling her everything would be alright. "Hush, Aria hush. It's alright, Joy will be here soon and you'll have your mums to take care of you." Aria sniveled into her mum's shirt.

"I don't want her to come back if daddy's gone." Patricia gasped at this. She pulled Aria away and looked her in the eyes.

"Hush, Aria. Joy is your mother as well." Aria shook her head defiantly.

"She's not my mother. You're my mum, and Eddie's my dad. If he's gone, I don't want anyone else. No one loves me more than daddy. It'll _never _be the same! You don't understand…" she cried, running off to her room. Patricia called after her.

"Aria! Get back here, you don't mean that." The girl shouted from under her covers, not wanting to be seen. She desperately wished that she could be with her father. That he would come back to tell her everything was alright, and hold her in his strong arms.

"Yes I do! If daddy's not coming back then leave me here to die!" Her door was slammed closed and locked from the inside so that no one could get in. Patricia fell to her knees again and cried the rest of the night. Everything she knew was a lie, and she wanted an escape from it all. Suddenly during the night, the girl felt sick to her stomach. She ran to the bathroom and hurled for about three minutes straight. The feeling of nausea surpassed after that, coming and going as it pleased. Patricia hadn't known what was wrong. She hadn't felt this way since before she was pregnant with Alex. She thought nothing of it really, and headed to bed even though sleep seemed nonexistent now.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Wow... 3 chapters in 48 hours? New record! Keep reading guys, and thank you so so much! It means a lot to me and I promise other fics will be updated soon!**

* * *

The plane ride took about ten hours, maybe eleven or so. Eddie stepped out of the taxi that had brought him to his mother's old house that she still owned. He had called her the previous night asking her to leave the key in the plant out front for him, and if he could borrow the house for a while. Of course she said yes, luckily for him. Grabbing his bags out of the car, he tipped the taxi driver and waved as he drove off. "Well, here's to a new life for now," he said, looking at the house still unsure he did the right thing. The blonde boy felt a hand on his shoulder as he turned and smiled at who it belonged to. "It really means a lot that you came with me, you know," he told them.

"Well I know what you've been going through, and I'm here to help. Thank you, for letting me come. Not only me, but Carlyle too." Behind the figure next to him stood a little boy at the age of eight with dark brown hair and the same eyes as his mother. He held tightly onto his mother's hand, particularly shy. He and Eddie had only met just yesterday, but he knew that they would get along from everything his mother had told him.

"It's really no trouble at all," Eddie answered. "I'm looking forward to getting to know Carlyle more, as well as you, Victoria." The girl gave a laugh and a smile, earning a smile back. Eddie grabbed the key and unlocked the door, carrying some of the bags in with him. "Home sweet home," he spoke as the two followed in behind him with their bags. He and Victoria had planned this the day after they came home from the hospital. The girl had packed their bags that night, and had them set and ready for Eddie to pick them up after he left.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Victoria told him. It was big, oh yes. Big and beautiful inside and out. It was really no wonder that Eddie's mom hadn't sold the house. It was too nice to give away really. "Don't you think, Carlyle?" The boy smiled and nodded, looking around. Eddie was glad they liked the house. He certainly always had.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Let me give you the tour. After all, I grew up here." Victoria and Carlyle happily followed Eddie as he showed them around. It was early in the morning, around 6am. Most of them had slept on the plane. Eddie however, unfortunately wasn't able to get any sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Aria the entire time. Every time he got her out of his mind, something brought her back. He hated it beyond compare. It was literally killing him inside knowing how she felt, and yet, he left anyways. It was for the best, wasn't it? Ugh, he just didn't know anymore.

Eddie showed them both his old room where Carlyle would be staying while they were there. He seemed to like it fairly well. It wasn't very big, but there was a twin bed, computer and desk, a TV, and toys that Eddie had when he was younger. It was a good thing that his mother didn't throw them away after all. Once Eddie showed Carlyle the room, he was lost in his own world leaving just the two young adults on their own. "C'mon, I'll show you one other room," Eddie told her. It was his mother's old room. There was a queen bed, TV just like the other, bureaus, a dresser, vanity, and closet.

"This room is pretty," Victoria told him, looking around. She walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, running her hand over the sheets and blanket. A smile played on her lips, looking back up at the boy. "Is this our room?" Eddie smiled back at her, sitting on the other side of the bed as she was.

"Yes, actually." He was just glad that she didn't find this whole thing awkward. He didn't really think she would, but then again you never know. Eddie stretched and let out a sleepy yawn. The girl beside him giggled, looking into his eyes.

"You're tired," she confirmed. Patting the bed with her hand, she continued. "Go on, rest. I'll go out and get groceries while you sleep," she offered very kindly. "Carlyle won't bother you unless it's an emergency. I'll be back in a jiffy, okay?" Eddie nodded during another yawn as the girl laughed again and left the room. Lack of sleep soon took over the boy and he feel into an uneasy slumber. While he slept old memories came flooding back to haunt him.

_The car pulled up to the house after slamming on the breaks and parking. Patricia grabbed Aria out of her car seat and urged her to run inside after unlocking the door before Eddie could even park. The redhead ran inside after her daughter and yelled for her to go to her room. She didn't want Aria to see any art of this although she had already seen enough. Eddie came charging inside after her, angered by the previous said argument. "You always have to be right, don't you Patricia! This isn't about us anymore, it's about you! You're the one who said that you wanted to get married in the first lace and I proposed to you because I thought I loved you. I guess I was wrong about that."_

_Patricia was already hurt by words previously said. A few tears escaped her light blue eyes and slipped down her cheeks. "Well if you don't love me anymore then why don't you leave?! No one's making you stay! I never said I needed you anyways." Eddie gave her a fake smile, gritting through his teeth._

_"See, it's that kind of attitude that got us into this argument in the first place!" Patricia whipped around to face him, hurt and angered by his choice of words._

_"So I'm always the one to start things, am I? Last I checked we've had plenty of arguments that you've started!" Eddie slammed his hands over his face in grief._

_"I can't put up with anymore Patricia. You're not the same girl I thought you were. You've obviously changed since high school. You're moody, clingy, you don't trust me when I'm out by myself, I can't put up with you!" Tears continue to flow from her eyes as she harshly wipes them away._

_"Well excuse me for being concerned! Call me a jealous moody bitch why don't you? And like I said, no one's keeping you here! I don't want to be with someone who has to 'put up with me' anyways! Leave, Eddie! Just get out of here, I can see you want to! Go!"_

_"You know what, I should call you a jealous moody bitch because that's what you've become! That's exactly what you've become! And you know something else, I will leave. I'll go right now, if that's what you want." Patricia collapsed onto the couch now with waterworks pouring from her face. "Is that what you want, Patricia? Is it?!" The redhead couldn't control herself anymore. Little did they both know that Aria had been watching and listening to this whole thing. _

_"I said leave, Eddie! I can't have you with us anymore, not me or Aria. You've changed as well," she replied between sniffles and harsh breathing. _

_"Fine, I'm going." Eddie reached for the door and pulled it open. "Hope you're happy now." His back turned to leave; Patricia couldn't bear to watch. Aria's little eyes went wide at the sight of her father leaving. _

_"Daddy!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, running out into the room as fast as her toddler legs could carry her. But it was too late, and Eddie was gone after the door slam. Aria's heart was shattered along with her mothers, and streams of tears flooded down her face as well. "Daddy!" _

Eddie shifted uncomfortably in his sleep, although the memories kept coming back. When they would end, he didn't know. One thing he did know was that they were real, and real dreams are the worst kind.

_"Aria!" The girl was running down the street in the pouring rain, not even wearing a coat. Victoria got out of the car as well and she too called Aria's name. "Aria come back here!" They had no idea where she was going as she was running the opposite direction. "Aria!" Finally the girl heard him, and whipped her head around to face them. Their eyes met for a brief moment before her Father noticed the car coming right at her. "Aria watch out!" The little redhead whipped back around in an instant. All you could hear was the start of a scream before everything fell silent. "Aria!"_

Eddie snapped awake in an instant. He was sweating and his breathing was rapid. He checked the time frantically, trying to calm down. Forty-five minutes. He had only been asleep for forty-five minutes. God the dreams were so real. Like they were happening all over again. Once his breathing slowed, Eddie headed down the hall to check on Carlyle. "Hey buddy," he said, sticking his head in the doorway. Carlyle greeted him with a smile and hello.

"Are you okay, Eddie? You look like you've seen a ghost," the young boy mentioned. Eddie hesitated, soon acting like it was a joke.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine. I'm just going to take a shower before your mother gets back, alright?" Eddie saw the boy nod and headed off to the bathroom to shower off the nightmares. His shower was longer than usual, estimating about 20 minutes. Mainly he just stood there, thinking about things. Once he got out, he wrapped himself in a towel and cleared the mirror of steam. Eddie looked at himself in the mirror a moment. Suddenly, a voice from inside him spoke out.

"Look at yourself. Who are you anymore? You're pathetic, trying to forget about your past. Did you honestly think you could leave you're old family behind and get by with this _new _family you're trying to make? Pathetic. You're sad, Eddie. You always have been and you always will be nothing more than a mistake. A great big mistake in the life of society. How could you do that to Aria? How could you stand by and watch her heart rip into two pieces as you walked out on her for the second time?" Eddie didn't want to listen to these voices, but they only got louder.

"Look at yourself! You're a heart breaker, Eddie. That's all you've been to them. A cruel, foul, murderer to their souls. When are the lies going to end? 'I love her, I'd never leave her, she's my everything.' LIES! All vicious, foul, disgusting lies! When does it end, Eddie? When does the crying of a child who's lost everything end?" The blonde, furious with these voices, left the room immediately, going to get dressed. It was true. Everything was true. He broke Aria's heart without meaning. How could he ever go back now? How could he possibly face her again after this? Would she ever forgive him? Who knows?

* * *

Back in England, a week had already gone by and Patricia was a wreck. Aria refused to even come out of her room. She would only come out to use the bathroom and when she ate she took her food with her. Joy had come back and confessed that everything Eddie said was true. The redhead felt awful. She honestly didn't know what to do, how to go on, or what was real anymore. Her whole relationship with Joy was built off lies and manipulation. Patricia wouldn't even look at Joy the same way she used to. They only spoke on occasions, and Joy has had to get a job. Meanwhile, no one really knew how much Aria was had only really been eating one meal a day, which was dinner. Every other meal she ate she threw up right after. She was practically starving herself half to death. It was a very serious manor, and no one even knew about it. As for Patricia, her matter was even worse. She had started doing something again that she hadn't done since high school.

One night, after everyone was asleep, Patricia woke up from her slumber and headed to the bathroom. She opened the draw of the counter and pulled out her razor. With a shaky hand, the girl brought the tool to her wrist and slashed her skin with one quick harsh swipe. Tears of pain flowed from her eyes as she let out a slight scream, watching the blood begin to trickle. Another slash on her other wrist meant another whimper of pain. As the blood ran down her arms, the tears fell onto her skin, causing it to burn but she didn't care. There was one other thing that she was keeping from everyone. Aside from cutting, that same night, Patricia found out that she was pregnant. What the hell was she to do now? The redhead collapsed onto the bathroom floor and left her wrists to bleed, bandaging them when they finally stopped.


	11. Chapter 11

A whole two months went by before Patricia told anyone that she was pregnant. Aria had gotten extremely sick, and had to be taken to the hospital. Patricia was also the one to find out about Aria's condition. When the young girl was questioned on why she did it, she refused to answer. However, after going to the doctors and being told how serious her condition already was and how it could get, she stopped, and started eating regularly again. Patricia had told Joy about her pregnancy first. Joy didn't know what to say. She was shocked, no doubt. The only thing she said was that Patricia needed to tell Eddie. The girl new this, obviously, she was just avoiding it.

How was she supposed to tell him now? He's already left. Was this supposed to magically bring him back to England? It didn't work like that, usually. She can't just ask him to come back now, after everything he said and she said back. What would he think of her? Besides, she was still mad at him, and Aria… she didn't even want to think about how Aria would react. Would she welcome her father back and run into his open arms, saying 'I forgive you, I love you'? Or would she turn her head away in shame, hatred, of her precious heart being broken? Either way, Patricia wasn't even sure if she could handle telling Eddie. After a lot of thought, the girl decided to put it off for another month.

It was now July. Aria was home from school now, and most days she just stayed in her room playing or coloring in silence. Joy would try to get her to come out, but she never would. Very rarely did the girl come out to do things with her mothers. Patricia felt so bad for the girl, the girl who was once full of life and high spirit and now was nothing more than a hollow body of emptiness. The color had faded from her face, her beautiful smile was extremely rare, and for her to speak to you was a relief. The only one in the house she would really talk to was Alex, even though he couldn't talk back.

One night, Patricia sat alone in her room that she shared with Joy thinking about everything that's happened in the last few months. Her bright blue eyes stared at the phone on her bedside table for about ten whole minutes. Eventually the brunette came in and frowned at what she saw. She walked over, picked up the phone, and handed it to Patricia. "Call him, Patricia. He needs to know." The redhead sighed while taking the phone, knowing that this moment would come soon. She dialed the number that she knew he would answer, held the phone up to her ear with a shaky hand and heard it ringing. She started to panic and almost hung up, but a voice stopped her.

"Hello?" Eddie had answered the phone. Patricia's breath stopped short, not knowing what to say. The blonde repeated himself. "Hello?" This time she had to answer.

"Hello, Eddie, it's Patricia." The girl swallowed hard, not knowing how the boy would react.

"Patricia. Hi," he said. "Um, so, why did you call?" The redhead rolled her eyes slightly, not wanting to go on with this conversation just because of fear.

"I needed to tell you something. I'm… I'm pregnant." There was complete silence on the other line. This is exactly what she _didn't _want to happen. She sat there, listening to nothing and desperately wanting him to reply.

"You're pregnant," he repeated. "Wow… Patricia, I-I don't know what to say." He didn't know what to say? Patricia tightened her grip on the phone. She knew he would act like this, she knew it wouldn't change the way he felt about her, or the fact that he left them for the second time.

"Then don't say anything," she told him through gritted teeth. "I'm three months pregnant, Eddie. The baby's yours and they're due in January, if you even care. Goodbye, Eddie." With that, the girl hung up. It was over. She told him, yes, but perhaps she should have waited. Regret started to take over the girl's emotions as she should have waited for him to answer her. She fell backwards onto the bed and covered her face with her hands so that no one could see the tears fall.

* * *

"No, wait! Patricia, don't –" it was too late. She had already hung up without giving him the chance to say anything. "Dammit Patricia!" Eddie screamed, hanging up the phone as well. His hands ran through his dirty-blonde hair as he paced back and forth not knowing what to do. He couldn't just go back to England now. He had already made Victoria and Carlyle move here with him, he couldn't just make them move back. All of these conflicted emotions just cut right through him. No he was absolutely positive that nothing made sense anymore. He was going to have another child. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

The boy went to his bedroom to lay down, well, more like collapse down, and just be alone for a bit. Eventually, he must have fallen asleep because Victoria had come in to wake him up. "Eddie, Eddie wake up," her cute laugh told him. The boy aroused and looked up into her beautiful green eyes. He smiled up at her and gave her a quick kiss before sitting up and looking at the time.

"Whoa, I didn't realize it was that late." The clock read 7pm, meaning he had slept for two hours. Victoria laughed and helped him out of bed.

"Come on, supper's ready." Eddie was glad that it was time to eat. Maybe eating would help him take his mind off of everything. Carlyle was already out in the kitchen at the table pouring drinks. It had only been three months, but Carlyle had grown an awful lot for a boy his age. He was certainly pretty tall for his age.

"Thanks Carlyle," Eddie thanked him. The boy smiled and sat down after pouring. The three of them ate dinner with pleasant conversation throughout. Eddie kept thinking about what Patricia told him. He covered it up nicely though, not letting his emotions show. He was a master at that practically. After all, he did it all his life. After dinner, Eddie offered to wash the dishes. Carlyle and Victoria went to work with the other chores and getting ready for movie night. Every other Saturday night, the three of them would have a movie night as a family. Even though they weren't a perfect family, they were what Eddie was used to. He had been used to it ever since he was a toddler. Nothing had changed, really until he married Patricia. But of course, nothing good can last apparently.

It was now late at night, everyone was sleeping except for Eddie. He sat up in bed, not able to sleep. Victoria had awakened and noticed this. "Eddie, what is it?" The blonde turned to look at her.

"Patricia called me earlier. She's pregnant." Victoria sat up as well, sort of shocked.

"Oh my gosh. Well, what are you going to do?" Eddie shrugged. He wish he knew the answer to that. It was all so confusing. Should he go back, or stay? "Well, whatever you chose, I'll support your decision." Eddie lay back, looking at the ceiling.

"I can't go back; not yet. I need more time to think things over. I wanna be there for her, but right now, I just can't." Victoria nodded, resting her hand on his arm.

"It's alright, Eddie. You should get some rest." The boy knew she was right, and closed his eyes to fall into a decent sleep.

* * *

Well, it was mid-January now, and Eddie had talked to Patricia over the phone a few more times since the last. The girl had sent him a few pictures at his request, and a copy of the ultrasound. It was a girl. As soon as Eddie found out it was a girl, guilt started flowing through him again. He remembered how Aria made him feel when he held her for the first time. It was like nothing he had ever experienced. The boy wasn't sure he could miss that opportunity again. He had made a plan a few months ago that Patricia didn't know about. He was going back to England to see Patricia, and the baby.

Victoria and Carlyle stayed behind, as Eddie needed to do this by himself. He wasn't going to stay long at all. But he definitely was going back. Eddie picked a day where he knew Aria would be in school. He got on his flight with his bags, and headed back to England. It was noon time when he arrived. He got his car back from a friend's house that had been keeping it for him, -they had gotten a car of their own back in America- and headed back to Patricia's. Joy wasn't home he saw, which was good. He got out of the car after parking and knocked on the front door. It was only a few minutes before Patricia answered the door. Her eyes went wide when she saw who it was. "Eddie…" she said.

"Hi Patricia," the boy replied giving her a slight smile. He hadn't even thought about how the girl would react when she saw him, but he never would've expected her to do what she did. To his surprise, the girl threw her arms around his neck and just hugged him, not wanting to let him go. Eddie hugged her back, tightly, but not too tightly.

"I missed you…" she confessed, a few tears slipping from her eyes. Eddie was not expecting this reaction at all. Although, he kind of liked it.

"I missed you too," he told her. The redhead hugged him for a little longer before drying her eyes and letting him go.

"Why did you come back?" she asked curiously. She was glad that he did, although she was still sort of mad at him; her feelings were all out of it.

"I came because I needed you to know that I'm not going to let you take care of our baby on your own. We'll work something out, okay Patricia?" She nodded, not having any words to say. "Listen," here came the bad news. "I can't stay." The girl's face fell, not believing him, and yet hating herself because she should have known it was too good to be true.

"Why did you even come then?" she said with hurtfulness in her. The boy took her hands, and she wanted to pull them away, but resisted.

"I'm here because I'm not leaving you alone in this. You can't tell Aria I ever came back without seeing her, okay it would only break her heart again. I'm only staying until the baby comes, so I'll be there for you then." Suddenly Patricia felt sharp pains running through her abdomen.

"Eddie," Patricia gasped. The blonde took the girl by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

"What is it Patricia?" The redhead stared straight down at the ground, her back arched and her arm holding her stomach.

"This baby is coming now." The blonde's deep brown eyes widened at this. He certainly didn't plan on bringing her to the hospital first thing when he got back to England.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, thinking of what to do. "Uh, okay I guess I'm gonna have to take you to the hospital myself," Eddie told her.

"Yeah, well do you think you could hurry it up? This baby's not gonna wait forever," the girl reminded him. Eddie closed the door to the house and locked it with the key that he still had.

"Alright, come on, let's go." Eddie led Patricia to the car and helped her inside, getting in after her and backing out as fast as he could. "You're gonna be fine, Patricia," Eddie told her as they started the short drive to the hospital. It wasn't that far away from their home, which was good.

"Shut up and drive," Patricia complained. Eddie rolled his eyes without the girl seeing and continued to drive. The rest of the ride was silent other than Patricia's heavy breathing and whines of pain. They were at the hospital in about ten minutes, parking and getting out.

"Did you want me to call Joy?" Eddie asked as he helped Patricia out of the car. The redhead shook her head no in response.

"Just get me inside." Understood. The two of them made their way inside to the counter. Soon Patricia was brought to a room in a wheel chair while Eddie went to get her some water. When he got back to the room Patricia's eyes were closed. Eddie smiled slightly as he walked over there. Her eyes opened, and she looked up at him.

"I got you some water," Eddie said, handing it to her. "The hospital called Joy at work. I guess she's on her way here." Patricia drank the water that was now in her hands. 'Okay' was all she said in response. Eddie sighed to himself knowing that it they were going to be at the hospital for a while, with nothing to do but talk, if they chose to do even that. It was only a matter of time before Joy got to the hospital. She walked into the room looking down holding a bag in her hands.

"Patricia I came as fast as I could. How did you even get here without–" she cut her sentence short when her head rose and she saw the boy standing by Patricia's side. "Eddie." The brunette was in complete shock that he was there. Wasn't he back in America just last night? "What are you doing back?"

"Nice to see you too, Joy," Eddie answered, the sarcasm hinting in the way he spoke. Patricia didn't want to deal with fighting or anything of the sorts. She decided to end this before it began.

"Hi Joy, thanks for your help. You can just leave the bag here, and wait for us, okay?" The girl's eyes widened. Did Patricia just say what she thought she did? Even Eddie was shocked that Patricia didn't want Joy there.

"What? But, I thought–" Patricia sighed, not really wanting to hurt Joy's feelings. She didn't want both of them there, and it _was _Eddie's daughter after all.

"Joy, I'm sorry, but it's Eddie's daughter, and I want him here with me. Only one of you can be in the room with me anyways." Joy dropped the bag on the ground like Patricia had asked. You could tell that still, the girl was hurt.

"Okay, fine. I get it, I mean, it _is _his daughter. Fine, I'll be out here waiting. Oh, and my parents are going to watch Aria and Alex until we get back." The redhead nodded. You could tell she was waiting for Joy to leave the room. Once the brunette was gone for sure, Patricia looked up at Eddie.

"Eddie," she started. "I know you said you didn't want to see Aria before you left, but I really think you should. You don't know what she's been going through these past months. You missed her birthday, Eddie." The blonde was filled with guilt now. He hated the feeling. It literally haunted him every night, every time he thought about the girl. Every time he thought about leaving.

"I know, but I just can't, Patricia. I can't…" the redhead frowned even though she kind of understood. The conversation ended there. Hours had passed and at one point the boy must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew his eyes were closed but opening to the sounds of screaming. Eddie got up and rushed to Patricia's side. "What's wrong?" he asked. Patricia did not seem amused.

"What do you think is wrong? The baby's coming now!" Shortly after a doctor came in and brought Patricia to the actual labor room while Eddie followed behind with the bag. All you could here in the room was a lot of screaming. When Eddie finally got there, he was right at Patricia's side.

"Here, give me your hand," he told her, remembering that this is what they did for Aria. He wasn't in the room for Alex's birth, but just the same. The redhead grabbed his hand without any hesitation. The doctor spoke to the both of them during the labor process, -mostly to Patricia though- and told them both what to do. All Eddie had to do was let her practically crush his hand and help her with the breathing exercises.

"Okay Patricia," the doctor started. "Listen carefully, it's time to push. Ready?" The redhead shook her head no, but the doctor merely laughed. "Yes you are. Okay, on the count. One, two, three, push." Patricia did what she was told, one hand squeezing Eddie's and the other tearing at the bed sheets. This continued for what seemed like hours, but in reality it was only one hour. When they had Aria it took twice as long, so they were lucky this time. When the baby was finally out, Patricia let go of Eddie's hand that had pretty much lost all feeling in it. The boy tried to show how painful it was, because compared to child birth, his hand was merely like pulling out a tooth pick that stuck you.

"Is your hand okay?" Patricia asked him, her breathing heavy. The blonde turned back to her and smiled.

"It's fine," he said. "I'm sure I'll regain the feeling in it my tomorrow." The redhead laughed, apologizing to him. When the doctor brought their baby back, she was wrapped in blankets and a little hat, all nice and clean.

"There you are, Patricia," the doctor said, smiling at her. "Your new daughter. I'll leave you two to come up with a name for her," she said, walking away shortly. Patricia held her baby in her lap and smiled.

"She looks just like you," the girl said to Eddie. Eddie looked at their baby and smiled also. She really did look like him. She had blonde hair, and brown eyes just like him.

"Yeah, she does," the boy agreed. "What are we gonna name her?" Patricia had been thinking about this quite a lot. Joy had made a few suggestions, but Patricia had a prefect name for her already.

"I was thinking, Lilly Grace Miller." The girl looked up at him to see his reaction.

"I think that's a beautiful name," Eddie admitted. "What about her last name?" Patricia gave him a look that said 'what about it?' "It's not going to be Miller/Mercer?" The girl shook her head.

"No. She's all ours, Eddie. Do you want to hold her?" The blonde nodded, taking Lilly from her mother's hands and holding her in his own. She was so small, and beautiful. Eddie smiled at her, but soon the immediate guilt came back to him. How could he just not be a part of her life? It was too painful to think about. He handed her back to Patricia soon after. "Eddie," the girl said. "I talked things over with Joy, and we'd really like it if every other year she lived with you. You could come back and get her, or one of us could even bring her to you. Please, Eddie. I don't want her to not have her father in her life at all. She needs you. Please?" Eddie sighed, and kissed Patricia on the lips.

"I'll think about it," he told her. He gave Lilly a kiss as well. "By the way, give this to Aria for me please," Eddie asked of her. It was a note that he wrote to her. He couldn't stay to face her, but he needed her to know he loved her, very much. Patricia nodded.

"Of course I will," she said. "Please do think about it though," she reminded him. He promised her that he would, and with that, he left the room. On his way he saw Joy, told her that Lilly had been born, and said he had to go. She had no words other than goodbye. Neither did he, truthfully. When he got into his car again, he blasted the radio so that he wouldn't have to think about the guilt rising up in him. He planned to escape through music, just like when he was younger. Soon he would be on the first flight back to America and home, where he could think things over without everyone there.

Later on at night when he was finally home, Eddie thought about Patricia's compromise. How could he turn it down? If he did, he'd be just like his father was, walking out on them before giving them a chance. Who was he kidding? He already _was _just like his father. He became like him the very first day he walked out on Patricia. Eddie was no better man than his father was, and if he turned down this offer, he would only be worse. There was only one way to fix his mess, and it would only fix a part of it. He had to take the compromise. If he didn't, Lilly would never have known her father. As it is, Alex wouldn't even remember him. Eddie had to do this; it was only right. Next year, he would go back to England and Lilly would be his for a whole year.


	12. Chapter 12

_Beep, Beep, Beep. Beep, Beep, Beep. Beep…_ the annoying noise was cut off by a hand hitting the snooze button of the small black alarm clock who's little green numbers read 8am. The hand slipped off of the clock and slid down to the bed in which the owner lays. Another hand to match it slid out from underneath the covers and pulled the sheets back. Sitting up, long locks of hair rose with her. The girl stretched out her arms with a sleepy yawn, looking to the ceiling. Today was a big day, and she knew it very well. The girl practically jumped out of bed, her covers flying everywhere as she ran over to the calendar she kept on her wall. The young girl had been waiting for this day for long enough, and at last it was finally here.

Pulling out a big red marker from her draw, she circled today's date, crossing off yesterdays. The calendar made the date very clear; July 12th. A huge smile crept up on her face as she took off down the hall practically flying. The girl was going so fast that she almost toppled over Alex. "Hey, watch it, Aria!" the boy shouted. The girl couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry," she said, the huge smile still on her face. "It's just an exciting day." Alex rolled his eyes at the girl. Aria hadn't stopped talking about today for the past few months. It was starting to get old hearing about it day after day after day.

"So it's your sixteenth birthday tomorrow, big whoop," Alex spoke. He loved his sister, but sometimes she got on his nerves with her constant happiness. Although, it was much better than their childhood together which he vaguely remembered entirely. Aria crossed her arms and started to pout.

"Oh you're just jealous," she teased. Alex was between four and five years younger than Aria, being elven years of age now. For an eleven year old, he was quite mature, which Joy and Patricia were thankful for. Their sister Lilly was nine. Aria found the older she got, the more she started to look like not only her mother, but more of her father as well. Clearly she had her mother's hair and eyes, but as the years grew on, the girl started picking up the little things that were what made her her father's child. They had the same mouth, teeth, almost the same nose. She was born with her mother's skin tone and yet even that started to change. Her skin became more naturally tan like Eddie's sort of olive toned skin. Lilly had the same skin too, but there was one peculiar thing about Lilly that never quite added up in Aria's head.

Patricia and Joy never told Aria or Alex who Lilly's father was. After Lilly was born, Patricia and Joy explained to her that they didn't really know who Lilly's father was. When she and Alex got older, they explained in more detail that Patricia had Lilly through home insemination, but that still didn't add up, because a man would have to be involved. They were obviously hiding this from her, which the girl didn't like one bit. She was very curious as to who her sister was seeing every other year. This year happened to be the year she was gone away. Because of her constant traveling, she knew for a fact that the girl was homeschooled. Sometimes Aria would even help Lilly study herself. This particular question had been lingering in the back of her mind for so long that it seemed to have been there since her own birth, which was impossible due to the fact that Lilly wasn't born and there was no way she'd remember that far back anyways.

Alex's voice broke Aria out of her trans. "Hello? Earth to the almost birthday girl?" The redhead snapped back to reality and looked at her brother.

"Sorry Alex, no more time to talk. I have a _lot _to do today." With that, the girl rushed off to eat her breakfast. Alex was impressed at how fast she moved.

"What are you even so excited for? Your birthday is tomorrow!" Aria wasn't listening, and she didn't really care. Today was the day she had been waiting a long time for. Nine years, she waited patiently. It was finally time for her plan to be put into action. After eating breakfast, the girl ran back to her room and closed the door behind her. Stripping from her pj's she dressed in casual summer like clothing. It never got too warm in England, but where she was going, it would be warm all the time. The young girl quickly stashed her pj's in the hamper where they belonged and grabbed the big suite case from under her bed that she had packed the other night. In that one suite case alone she had managed to pack three T-shirts, three pairs of shorts, two pairs of capris, two regular short sleeved shirts, two pairs of sandals, socks and undergarments, and a pair of sneakers.

Aria had no idea how much stuff she would need for her plan, but it was better to be prepared, she always liked to think. In another smaller bag she had packed toiletries and whatnot. There was no messing around in her mind. She was serious about this, and it would all happen by tomorrow afternoon in England's time. Aria walked over to her dresser and took out the note that she always kept secret. Her mum knew about it, but had never read it. Only Aria had seen the note, and that's the way she intended to keep it. It was a not from her father. The last thing she had left of him.

With careful hands the girl unfolded the letter and read it once more. _Ari, I don't even know where to begin. I made a big mistake, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to fix it. In fact, I've made quite a few mistakes actually. I'm not exactly perfect; no one is. Listen, I couldn't stand to tell you this in person-another mistake on my part-but I need you to know that leaving your mum, and leaving you, was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I need you to trust me when I say that it was for the best. I'm sorry, but I need time on my own right now. And Aria, just know, that even though I'm not there in person, that does not mean I will ever stop loving you. Nothing in the entire world could change the way I feel about you. You were my whole world, Aria. Don't ever think for even a second that I don't still think about you every day. I could never forget you, or Alex, or Patricia. When you're older you might understand better, sweetie. Goodbye, Ari. ~Daddy._

Aria pressed the letter against her heart and held it there for a moment before placing it in her suitcase with her things. Quickly before anyone could walk in on her she shoved the suit cases back where they came for now and returned to her dresser. The girl stared at herself in the mirror. "Every day, baby girl. You're looking more like him every day." She smiled at her reflection and tucked her hair behind her ear. Turning to walk away, her hip bumped the dresser and a picture fell from the top. "Oh…" her voice went as she bent over to pick it up. It was a picture of all three of them at Lilly's fifth birthday. Aria smiled, turning it over. She hadn't remembered that she had this picture. She thought it was lost for the longest time. When she saw what was written on the back, the girl's eyes widened and she let out a huge gasp.

On the back of the picture there had been two notes written. One to someone, and one reply. When Aria's eyes saw whose name was on the photo, a mixture of feelings bubbled inside of her. Anger, sadness, betrayal... all of the above and more. She read the notes aloud to herself.

_Hey, here's that photo you wanted to copy. I borrowed it from Aria. I hope she won't mind. So I'll see you in a week when you come, right Eddie?_

_Yeah, and thanks for understanding the extra few weeks before coming. It's a busy month, and things can get real out of hand. Anyways, thanks Patricia. _

The girl could hardly believe this. Nine years. Nine freaking years it's been! Nine years of lies after lies and secrets after secrets. When does it end? She wondered with all her mind. Even now, when she's finally sixteen, they don't think she's old enough to know. When will they stop? She's not the same girl she was back then.

Aria was furious, and planned to confront her mother with this. Patricia, not Joy. Aria had stopped seeing Joy as a mother a while ago. She still loved her, but more as an aunt or other relative. To her, she would always only have one mother. If anyone asked, she would tell them the truth, but in her mind, the truth was nonexistent at this point. There was a sudden knock at the door. The girl turned around as it opened. Patricia poked her head from out behind the door and smiled. "Oh good, you're decent. I had a quick question for you, Aria. I was wondering-" The girl stopped her right there.

"Answer my question first, mum." The older redhead was shocked slightly at the urgency behind her voice, but she entered the room fully, all ears. "Why didn't you tell me about this?" she asked, handing her mother the note on the back of the picture. Patricia sighed after realizing what it was.

"Aria, I can explain," she tried. The girl wouldn't have it.

"You told me you haven't even spoken to dad since he left! What else have you lied to me about?" Patricia stood, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Aria pulled away defiantly. "Don't touch me," she said, looking into her mother's eyes with an expression of betrayal. "What else, huh? What else is there? I know you haven't told me everything. I deserve to know."

"Aria, I promise you'll understand it better when you're older." There it was again. 'When you're older'. Aria had heard that phrase practically her entire life.

"When I'm older, it's always when I'm older. When will I be old enough, Mum?" Her voice was rising as she fought the tears building up inside. She was a master at it now. After all, she had plenty of time to practice; nine years in fact. "I'm going to be 16 tomorrow! I'm not a little girl anymore, Mum! You tell Lilly more stuff then you tell me, and she's only nine! You won't tell me who her father is, where she goes every other year, you won't even tell me her real last name! I'm sick of the secrets!" Patricia knew that Aria was right, but she honestly felt this was the best.

"You always listen in when I talk to her because you think I'm going to peer pressure her into giving me answers. You obviously don't trust me at all!"

"Aria," Patricia called to her. She wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, but truthfully she had no idea if it would. Aria's voice grew softer as her face faded further.

"You met with dad, Mum. And you didn't even tell me..." Aria looked her dead in the eyes, not breaking eye contact. Patricia felt the guilt eating at her, begging to break out.

"I thought it was better that you didn't know," she spoke truthfully. Eddie had felt the same, which is why they agreed to never tell the young girl. It was a good thing she hadn't known why he came, or that he had come more than once

"What, did you think I would break down and cry like I did when he left the first time? Or the second? Well you were wrong; you all were wrong! Nine years, almost ten, that I've gone without my father. Almost ten freaking years! You've never even let me make a phone call to him! That's the least you could have done. I can't believe you've been talking to him. He came back, and you kept it to yourself. Does Joy even know?"

"Of course she does," Patricia insisted with harshness in her tone. "You should really stop calling her by her first name. It's disrespectful, Aria. We've raised you better than this, you know it." Aria placed the picture gently back down on her bureau and crossed her arms.

"What do you want me to call her? Mom? Why should I? I'm sorry, but Dad was right, I'm not her child. I'm his, and even if I were to call her Mom, she would be a stepmom to me." Patricia walked closer to her daughter. She sighed as she looked into her familiar eyes.

"What happened to the sweet little girl I used to know?" Patricia asked her, going to touch her shoulder again but hesitating. Aria eyed her mother's hand that dropped right after it rose.

"She was broken a long time ago, her dreams crushed, and destroyed by reality. Nine years of PTSD can really change a person, Mum," Aria simply explained, the hurt emotions still clear in her voice. "She was choked by lies, smothered with secrets, hurt by curiosity. Need I go on?" The girl sighed and left the room with Aria staying behind. Just when the young redhead thought she was gone, her mother's face appeared once more for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," was all she said. Aria had no words to reply with so she let Patricia walk away with nothing else said or done. A long and tedious sigh stretched from the girl's mouth, letting out all the air inside of her and falling over flat onto her stomach to be caught by her bed. Why did Lilly get to know everything? It just wasn't fair, in her eyes. Aria wanted to be trusted, she wanted to be understood. Most of all she wanted answers. No matter, she would have plenty of answers once tomorrow came around. All she knew right now was that today was going to be a long day.

After sulking in her room for a good hour or so, Aria finally decided that today would be a productive day. Jumping out of bed the girl ran outside, grabbed her bike from the porch that she had gotten for Christmas, strapped on her helmet and was off down the road speeding by cars everywhere. She didn't care where exactly she went, but she was glad to be going. Her little legs pedaled faster and faster and eventually brought her to the park, where Alex had gone to meet some friends.

"Hey dude, isn't that your sister?" one of his friends called out. Aria smiled over them, stopping to hear what he'd say. Alex looked over his shoulder and saw his sister sitting there on her bike giving him the stupidest, widest grin in the world, along with a little finger wave.

"Nope. Not at all," he said, a bit embarrassed to know he right now. The girl only laughed. She'd get him back for this right away anyways. As she started to pedal on her way, she shouted over to the group of boys.

"Hi Alex! I'm going into town for a bit. Mother said be home by four!" Alex hid his dace as she sped on by, only causing more laughter to come from her mouth. As she continued her journey into town she said hello to many people as they said hello back, or even first. Aria knew a lot of people in town, and was always friendly with everyone. To her, it didn't matter who you were, what your story was, or what you looked like. A person was a person, a friend was a friend. She had many friends, in fact. One of them happened the baker's son who was always down in the bakery making the pastries and helping his parents. It was quite a good thing being friends with the baker's son. He was often able to get her good deals on delicacies.

Aria parked her bike right in front of the bakery as she dismounted, heading inside. The bakery smelled good today just like it always did. She could tell that a fresh batch of cookies had just been made from the scent. Waltzing around the shop, her eyes glanced over every single little item they had. It was always fun coming into the bakery just for the sight. Of course, seeing Louis was always a plus as well. Aria hadn't been paying enough attention as she was backing up and walked right into someone, tripping over them and falling backwards slightly. "Oh my gosh!" she said as she fell. A pair of strong arms had caught her and helped her up.

"Whoa," the person had said when she fell as well. The voice was deep, and clearly belonged to a male. Aria hated being clumsy like that; it wasn't normally like her. "Easy Aria," the voice said. "Best not break anything today or you can kiss that trip of yours goodbye," he joked. The redhead smiled, realizing who it was.

"Louis!" she said in her perky tone that only really he brought out in her. Aria wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug as he picked her up and spun her around. It always made her dizzy but she hardly cared. Besides, it was fun and she kind of liked having his arms around her like that. When he put her down the both of them were smiling. "I've missed you," she confessed. The last time they saw each other was a few weeks ago right after school had ended. "We have a lot to catch up on when I get back." Her smile made the boy smile as well. Louis was seventeen, just a year above her in school though, her being born in the summer. He had light brown hair that fell in waves across his face with caramel brown eyes to match.

All of the girls in school fancied him, she knew. It would be a lie to day that Aria hasn't asked him who he fancied before. He never tells anyone, and that will never change he says. Maybe someday, she thought. They became friends about seven years ago. Louis was the only one that saw Aria in her time of need. She had been depressed a lot back then, suffering still from PTSD. Surprisingly though, after befriending Louis, he PTSD seemed to gradually fade away. It's still there, though, because it will never really go away. But just the same, he helped her when no one else cared.

"I know, I've missed you too. I don't know what I'll do when you're gone," he admitted, rubbing his hand up and down his arm. _Wow, _she thought, looking at his arms real quick. He had been working out a lot, and it definitely showed. Aria frowned, looking up into those mesmerizing eyes of his.

"I'm sure you'll manage. You'll have Ebony," she reminded him. Ebony was Louis sister who was coming home from her special school that she went to, to spend the summer with her family. She was older than the both of them, being nineteen. She looked just like the boy, almost exactly like him. Or, maybe it was more correct to say he looked just like her. Either way, they could be twins. Louis nodded at the girl's words.

"You just be careful out there, okay?" Louis was the only one that Aria trusted to tell her plan. She had to tell him, he was her best friend. The boy playfully punched her arm as she laughed.

"I will be. I always am, remember?" She gave him a goofy look, him rolling his eyes in response. "Okay, I'm careful _most _of the time, alright? It's not my fault. I promise I will watch out though." He gave her a look, staring at her for a few minutes. It was very… intimidating.

"You better. What time are you leaving again?" Aria looked at the ceiling, trying to remember the exact time.

"Uh- well, my flight leaves at exactly 6:30am. It's about a ten hour flight, lucky me. I should be there around noonish then. Hug goodbye?" she asked, opening her arms to the boy. Of course he accepted, hugging her tightly.

"I'll miss you," he told her. She would miss him too; a lot. "Call me when you get there, okay? I wanna hear all about it." Aria smiled and nodded.

"Well I better get going. I have a lot of things to do before tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll be back soon and we can talk on the phone every day. You'll see!" Aria headed out the door as the boy watched her ride off.

"See you soon, Aria." Louis sighed when the girl was finally out of sight. He was really going to miss her. Not only was she his best friend, but there was a certain reason why he never told her who he liked. If only she could see it was so obvious. Then again, maybe it wasn't.


	13. Chapter 13

The rest of that afternoon Aria went and spent time with a few other friends before she had to leave. When she got home, she finished packing in her room alone where no one would find out what she was doing. God, if her mother found out, Aria would never hear the end of it. Patricia always said that everything she and Joy did, they did to protect her, Alex and Lilly. Well that was a big lie considering Lilly got to know everything. She got to see her father every other year, she got to know things that Aria had been asking for years. Normally Aria was not the jealous type, but when it came to Lilly, she may as well tattoo the word jealousy to her forehead.

It wasn't that she hated Lilly, because she loved her sister. What she hated was how her mother told Lilly everything and her nothing. Aria was sure that they were hiding something, and if that was so, maybe she would even find out what that was on her trip. In a matter of a few hours, she would be on her flight and heading off. Of course, she wouldn't be going at all without the help of her grandparents. Her father's mother was the one who gave her this idea through a letter. She got the money from her, Patricia's parents, and even Joy's parents. Finally, she had enough money for the plane ticket and passport.

Eddie's mother, the one who originally gave her this idea, would be the one helping her get there. It was all set for the morning. All Aria had to do was catch a cab to the airport which she called ahead and asked for. The cab was meeting her out front of her house an hour before the flight. The girl smiled, thinking about it. She was finally going; she was running away to America to finally see Eddie again.

* * *

The girl slept peacefully throughout the night, not waking once. When the alarm sounded, the girl's eyes opened fully. She had gone to sleep early to make sure she was awake enough in the morning. Thankfully she was, as she rose from her bed and got ready. Having just took a shower last night, Aria slipped right into her clothes, careful not to wake anyone. She looked over at the other side of the room where an empty bed lay untouched since the previous year. When Lilly was old enough to move out of the nursery they had built before she was born, she moved in with Aria. The girls loved sharing a room together. That's how they've become so close.

Of course, Aria missed her when Lilly left every other year. Perhaps they could be even closer if they lived together permanently. They used to be able to video chat and talk to each other all of the time, until Aria saw something she shouldn't have seen. She saw a woman in the background that Aria could have sworn she'd seen before. After she asked Lilly who that was, Lilly said she had to go, and disconnected the chat. Video chats were limited to once a month after that, and phone calls were their only method of communication. Phone calls were nice and all, but Aria preferred them to talk face to face. She certainly won't ever forget that one incident a few months ago during their video chat. Aria and Lilly were talking about summer coming so quickly this year. Honestly it felt as if the year had flown right by, without a second glance. She remembered the conversation like it was yesterday.

"Can you believe it's almost summer?" the redhead asked her sister. Lilly could hear the enthusiasm in Aria's voice. Lilly never knew exactly what it was like to have to go to school every day since she was homeschooled. Most people thought she didn't have many friends because of this; however Lilly's made more friends _because _she's homeschooled. Now she had time to do all of these activities like dance, gymnastics, taking art classes, all sorts of crazy things that she had mentioned over the phone.

"I know," the young girl said. Lilly was only nine, but if you had just met her for the first time, you would think she was older than that. She looked older, more mature, and acted the same. "It feels like only yesterday I was back home with you, Alex, Mom and Mummy." Aria tried not to roll her eyes when Lilly called Joy 'mom'. She was still having an on and off relationship with Joy. She accepts the condition of her family, and sticks up for it, but secretly she still misses the way things used to be. "Hey, did you ask Louis to the dance yet?" Lilly questioned. Aria's cheeks turned a light pink.

"What do you mean? I wasn't going to ask him," she lied. How could Lilly possibly know that she liked Louis? The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"Aria, you're blushing. I know you like him, so why don't you ask him? You two would be the cutest couple, and you even kind of look alike just a little. That makes you perfect for each other." Lilly Logic 101, Aria thought. This time she did roll her eyes, letting out a sigh and running a hand through her hair.

"I've told you, he doesn't like me." Little did she know, she was as wrong as she'd ever been. What Lilly said had triggered something in her mind. "Speaking of looks, you've really changed a lot since I saw you last. It's only been what, 5 months? Not even, and you've changed a _lot._" Patricia walked in the room at that time, though Aria didn't see. She was at the kitchen counter with her back to the older redhead. Curiously, Patricia stopped to listen in. "You're starting to look a lot like my dad," Aria said. The girl's eyes widened on the screen, though Aria didn't see because Patricia had interrupted.

"Aria!" Patricia said in a casual but cheerful mood. "Aria sweetie it's time to do chores, and get off the laptop. Say goodbye to your sister first of course," Patricia instructed. Aria groaned, saying bye to Lilly. Why was her mum so keen to get her off of the computer so early? Chores weren't even for another hour! Aria swore that she would always remember that conversation.

Snapping back to the real world, the girl grabbed her bags silently from underneath her bed and brought them out by the door. Down at the end of the hall, the room that used to be Eddie's was now belonged to Alex. To Aria, it would always be her room of comfort. Sometimes even, when Alex wasn't home, she would go in there and just sit for a while, feeling all of the comfort and support coming back to her. Her eyes fixed on the room for a moment before going back and getting the rest of her things. The last thing she grabbed was her plane ticket. If that had gotten lost… she wouldn't know what to do. With it in her hand, her hand was brought to her lips as she kissed the ticket. "Thank you, Grandma," she whispered. "And my granparents, of course." A smile played on her lips. Aria took off down the hall, grabbing some fruit to eat while waiting for the taxi.

She saw the driver pull up through the window. Chucking the apple core from her hand, her fingers touched the handles of her bags hesitantly. Was she really about to leave? She dreamed about it for years, and now it was finally happening. The redhead moved forward, carrying out her plans as she quietly slipped out of the house undetected with her bags in hand. Remembering almost a second too late, she slapped a note to the door explaining everything. It was a beautiful morning already even though it was dark. A good day was in store for sure. The taxi driver slipped out of the car to help her with her bags. Thankful, Aria made a note to tip him at the airport. The ride there was silent, the girl's mind scattered with thoughts of meeting Eddie again after nine years.

How would he react? Would he be shocked to see her? Would he be thrilled that she came? There was no telling what would happen, really. The girl tried to only think of positives as the car drove on. The ride to the airport seemed extremely fast to her. Before she knew it they had arrived and it was only 30 minutes to go before the flight. Luckily she had remembered her passport as well. The redhead patted her pocket, feeling inside to grab the note she had received from her grandmother. The two of them have met in person only a few times before when she was really little. It was so amazingly kind of her to help Aria visit Eddie again. And to fly all the way to England just to go back with her so that she wasn't on the flight alone was even kinder. Her eyes scanned the note that told her where to meet her grandmother. The taxi driver followed behind with her bags. Once they got inside to the correct destination, Aria smiled at the man, thanked him, and gave him a rather generous tip.

The girl started to get butterflies in her stomach while she waited for her grandma. It had been about three minutes until a friendly looking lady approached her. She was blonde, looked in her early 50's and had passionate brown eyes. She smiled when she saw the redhead, walking a faster pace over to her. "Aria?" she called out. The girl looked up and smiled back at her grandmother.

"Grandma," Aria replied in a happy tone. She gave the woman a hug before stepping back. "Thank you so much for helping me with this," Aria said. "I mean really, I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you." Eddie's mom was the one who had given her the address, and suggested that she go to America to see him. She felt as though they needed to be reunited. In her opinion, Eddie was a fool to have left in the first place. The woman smiled at Aria, her granddaughter.

"It's no trouble at all, sweetie. You need to be with Eddie. Your father was a fool to have in the first place after all, and he talks about you_ all _the time." The young teenager smiled at this thought. "Oh, and before I forget, happy birthday sweetie! Now, let's go get on that plane, shall we?" A wide smile crept upon her as they went through the process it took to get on the plane. Aria realized they were cutting it a little close, but never the less they made it on the plane. "Why don't you rest, dear?" her grandma suggested. "It's going to be a long flight. Don't worry; they'll wake us when we land." The two shared a smile, as Aria's sleepy eyes lazily shut and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next thing she knew, Aria was being gently shaken awake by her grandmother. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw that people were getting ready to leave the plane. Had she really slept _that _long? _Wow… _she thought, _I must have been exhausted. _She collected her things and exited the plane after her grandmother did. Naturally, she hadn't brought much with her other than a small tote bag which made perfect sense since she lived in America and was going straight back. Once they were off the plane, Aria's eyes widened, taking it all in at once with a huge gasp. It was all so beautiful in her opinion. Luckily her dad happened to live in one of the warmer states in America. The plane had landed them in Florida.

Aria's grandmother was rushing her along to collect their bags but the girl was so mesmerized by everything. It was so sunny, and beautiful out. Nothing like the weather in England, that was for sure. There was a clock nearby that read 11:03pm. The time difference had shocked her since she wasn't used to it. Once they had their bags, Aria's grandmother rushed to get them out of the crowd of people. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "I just wanted to be out of there, that's all. So, shall I give you a ride to Eddie's or shall we go out to eat first?" The grumbling in Aria's stomach answered for her. "Out to eat it is then," her grandmother laughed. The redhead smiled, following her grandmother to the car parking lot where her car was located.

"Grandma do you always keep your car here?" Aria asked, jumping in the front seat as her grandmother got in the driver's seat. She remembered then that cars were different in America. There were a lot of things she needed to get used to.

"Not always, but when I'm going to places like England to pick up my granddaughter I do." Aria remembered her grandmother's name very well. She also remembered that she's ben remarried three times, so by now, she just went as Natalie Miller. Natalie was very pretty, and looked just like Eddie. Well, now it was clear where Eddie got his looks. Aria has never met her father's father, but Eddie always told her that it was better she hasn't. "So, we have quite a bit of catching up to do, I suppose," Natalie spoke.

"Indeed we do, Grandma, and please, tell me about Dad. What's he like now?" As they drove to lunch, Natalie spoke all about Eddie, and what he was like now. She told her about Victoria, and Carlyle. But what she hadn't mentioned was Lilly. Truthfully she knew about Lilly and she knew all about how Patricia and Eddie were trying to keep her double life a secret. She disapproved greatly, but swore to keep the secret. However, if Aria were to ask her, she would not lie to her. The girl has heard too many lies in a life time.

Lunch was excellent. The food was good, and Aria got to learn much more about Eddie. He seemed really happy now, with his own family. It kind of hurt a bit knowing that he had possibly forgotten about her, but she was sure he would be delighted to see her. Aria walked alongside her gran as they went for a little stroll. It really was a beautiful day. Aria was right in the middle of telling a story about Lilly as they walked. "And she's got these amazing eyes that just brighten your entire perspective on life itself. And her hair, it's like gold! Oh she's a beautiful little girl, Grandma. In fact she kinda looks like you." Natalie did a very good job at not showing her true reaction to that statement, what with knowing the truth and all. "In fact…" Aria was cut off by something she saw. No, not something, some_one_ . "In fact… she's right over there!"

The redhead saw her sister only a few feet away walking with a tall boy that had dark brown hair. She couldn't see what else he looked like from this angle, but she was positive that it was her sister with him. Aria took off, rushing towards the two of them with urgency. Natalie did call Aria's name, but watched her from afar where she was sitting, looking concerned. "Lilly!" she shouted. The girl turned, confused as to who would be calling her name. When she saw who it was, her eyes widened like a deer's when they saw headlights of a car. She whispered something to the boy and he took off. "Lilly!" Aria called again. Lilly knew she was caught. When the redhead made it to her sister, she was utterly and completely confused. "Lilly what are you doing here?" The better question was asked next.

"I live here! What are _you _doing here?" Aria sighed, shifting her weight. She looked around, side to side before deciding to tell the girl.

"Okay, I'll tell you. But you can't tell anyone! Especially not Mum. I ran away so that I could see my dad," she explained to her younger sibling. A bomb went off in Lilly's head. No, no no no! This couldn't be happening! Now it was Lilly's turn to look panicked. Should she come clean? Her eyes glanced sideways so that she could just barely see the boy she was with shake his head. Lilly turned back to her sister.

"I-I won't tell," she whispered, staring at the ground. Soon she was being hugged tightly by Aria who was practically squeezing her, saying thank you over and over.

"I have to go, but since you live here too maybe I'll see you around? I'm headed to 51 Abington St. Do you live nearby there?" Lilly tilted her head back and forth like a seesaw.

"You could say that…"

"Great! I really should get going but I'll see you soon! So much to catch up on!" With that, the girl took off with her grandmother once more, headed to Eddie's house. The boy who was with Lilly came back over and picked her up, carrying her on his side.

"That was a close one, Carlyle. She's here to see my dad. What do we do?" The boy sighed, thinking. He knew all about the secret as well. It seemed like everyone knew but Aria. He shook his head.

"Nothing much we can do. We'll have to let Eddie tell her," was his final word.

* * *

"Go on sweetie, I'm just going to drop you off. Call me and let me know what happens after you two talk and I'll swing by to drop off your bags, okay?" Aria nodded, giving her gran a kiss on the cheek before leaving the car and walking up the steps. The house was huge compared to the one back home. Her heartbeat increased slightly as she knocked on the door with a shaky hand. Footsteps could be heard inside, coming to the door. Slowly it opened, as Aria glanced up to look her father in the eyes.

"Hi Daddy," her quiet voice spoke. Eddie's eyes widened in shock.

"Aria?" he asked as if it wasn't really her. She nodded her head, smiling slightly. Eddie pulled her into a tight hug that was long overdue, pulling her inside. He held her tightly as she hugged back, loving the familiar feeling of her father's comforting arms around her again. Nine years, she waited for this. Suddenly it all felt worth it. Well, maybe that was thought too soon. Eddie suddenly broke the hug, the realization of Aria being here finally setting in. "Aria!" he exclaimed. "Aria, what are you doing here all by yourself? How did you get here? How did you find me? If Patricia found out… Patricia! Does she even know you've left?" Aria shook her head, frowning slightly.

"I left her a note…" Eddie ran a hand through his hair like he always did when he got nervous. He couldn't believe that Aria ran away.

"Listen, Aria, it was great to see you honey but you need to go home. If your mother found out, she'd kill me." Now it was Aria's eyes that widened.

"Wh-what? You want me to go back? H-how? How could you want me to go back? I came all the way across the oceans to see you again and you tell me to go home? No! I can't, and I won't. I've spent nine years without you and I won't bear to stand another. Do you know what you leaving did to me?" Eddie was about to interrupt her, but knew better. "I broke down for weeks! I wouldn't talk to anyone, I wouldn't come out of my room, I started throwing up my meals. For the first time in my life I actually felt dead inside. I was traumatized, by you leaving, Daddy. I've suffered nine years of PTSD, and I know you have it too." Eddie looked at the girl. How could she possibly know that?

"I know you constantly have flashbacks of leaving Mum, I know you think about me all the time, I know you relive every single mistake you've ever made in your nightmares. That's why you have trouble sleeping; another symptom which I have too. We're the same, Dad. You leaving was hard enough the first time, and then the second, when I was actually old enough to feel it." The tears came right out of her; she wasn't even trying to fight them. "You killed me, Dad. You crushed my heart, along with Mum's, and left us there." Her crying was gradually getting worse. "You always said that you never wanted to be like your father. Well guess what?" Eddie was speechless, and knew she would continue anyways. He could barely stand to hear this stuff himself. "You're _exactly_ like him. And if you tell me to go home and leave me again today, today of all days on my sixteenth birthday when I came halfway across the world to see you, you'll be more than twice as worse as he was." The blonde took a step closer to his daughter.

"I needed a break," he whispered. Aria nodded, understanding to an extent.

"Yeah, well you've gotten a break. A nine year long break, and I need to know, Dad. Are you walking out on me again? Tell me the honest truth, no matter how brutal. Because I don't need any more lies, secrets, or heartbreaks in my life. My whole childhood has been a lie. I know, you needed your space. It's another symptom of PTSD; distancing yourself from even the closest of friends and family. That's what I did too, but I got help, and I came _back, _for you. So what's it going to be?" Eddie took her hands in his like Patricia went to do before. However, she let him do it this time.

"Aria, you're right," he simply said. "I was afraid of being like my father but instead of realizing my mistakes I only kept making more. I ended up becoming exactly like him, and I never should have put you through that. I'm really sorry, Ari. I know you've been broken; I understand that now. But if somehow, you could find it in that heart of yours to forgive me, I'd appreciate that. So, what do you say, Lovebug?" Lovebug. That was a name she hadn't heard in ages. It was the special nickname that Eddie had given her when she was born. When she heard it, everything came flooding back to her in a single second. Every memory of her life flashed before her eyes, like they say happens before you die. Only this time, it was her life backwards, and Aria had just been reborn.

Without hesitation she threw herself into Eddie's open arms and wrapped her arms around his neck in a giant hug. "I missed you, Daddy," she cried into his shirt. He rubbed her back in a calming manor and hushed her.

"I really missed you too, Ari. I don't know what I was thinking by keeping you away so long." He had just then realized once more that Patricia still had no idea where she was. "I won't make you go home yet," he told her. "But you need to call your mother." She still didn't know about Lilly. The redhead nodded, as it was understandable. She just hoped her mum wouldn't be too mad… Just as she was about to dial the number, the front door opened and someone came in. Seeing that someone made her drop the phone entirely out of pure shock.

"Lilly?" Aria gasped.


End file.
